Kuroko and the Labyrinth of Magic
by Feynelle
Summary: When a Magi dies, they are reborn. Aomine Daiki, a chosen king who became corrupt, killed his Magi, and falls into despair. Kagami Taiga meets a mysterious boy with amnesia named Kuroko Tetsuya, who seems to have supernatural powers. After saving the boy from slave traders, they both agree to travel together, and meet friends along the way. Warning: Rape in first chapter.
1. Prologue

**A/N: **Another crossover =X

**Warning: Violence and Rape**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or Magi**

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**Prologue**

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_**Touou Kingdom**_

Touou Kingdom, one of the wealthiest and most powerful cities in the world, a glorious place with extravagant structures, and where celebrations were held almost everyday. Standing tall and proud in the dead center of the bustling streets, was the Grand Palace. The place where their beloved King, who had provided them with all the luxuries they had today, resided.

However, the outskirts of the city were the total opposite. The King labeled that area as the slums and the citizens that were unfortunate enough to live there, were poor, underfed, and mistreated. The slums were getting less populated by the day. Be it from starvation, illness, or even people being kidnapped in order to be traded as slaves.

Long story short, the people in this area were avoided at all cost. Afterall, why should anyone care for people who couldn't even take care of themselves? Should they relinquish the three to four meals they received daily to feed those who were lucky enough to get one meal from a garbage can? No, they didn't want to bother with people who couldn't make a living on their own. They were only rats who tried to dirty their lovely city with their disease infested bodies. People who were rarely seen, and never heard.

And what did the King do..? Nothing. He was currently seated in the throne room in his lush palace that was lined in white gold and sapphires. Some of his guards were stationed along the path to his throne, which was also heavily laced in gems. But the most extravagant part was the clothing the King and his partner wore.

The mans darkly tanned body was covered in the finest cloth, gems and jewelry adorning his fingers, neck and ears. Even the heavily bored expression on his face and the slumped way he sat upon the seat, did nothing to dim the dangerous aura that demanded obedience.

In contrast to the dark man, his personal servant, a boy looking no older than sixteen, had milky white skin, and was wearing the finest light blue silk to match his equally long, silky blue hair and eyes. The King kept him hidden from others and never let anyone other than his guard or advisors even spare him a glance. Those who did..were never heard from again.

Everything was quiet in the palace as it was at the end of every week. The citizens knew this day was a relax day from the usual parties, and knew not to bother the King. But today, the silence was interrupted as the doors to the throne room were forced open and a man stepped inside, worry on his face.

"Your Majesty. The citizens of the slums are all rioting." One of Aomine's advisors, a man with black-hair and glasses, said. "If we don't do something now, they'll storm the Kingdom..."

The tanned man sighed, removing his head from his hands and sitting up. But otherwise, said nothing to aid the situation.

"W-What do we do, Your Highness?" One of the guards asked.

"Hah? Just kill them all." Came the bored response as the King resumed his earlier posture and replaced his companion on his lap, whose eyes widened at the heartless command.

"Y-Yes, Your Highness!"

Sad light-blue eyes watched as the soldiers filed out of the throne room to execute the command their ruler had set. When the two of them were alone in the room once again, he looked at the man whose lap he was on.

Sensing the look and getting annoyed, the King roughly removed the boy from him and stood. With one last glare, he stormed down the steps and out of the room, slamming the large doors behind him and heading for his sleeping chambers.

Once inside of his room, he sat on the window sill and stared disinterestedly out of his the glass, watching as his guards dealt with the unruly people. Blood and bodies of men, women and children, covering the courtyard outside.

"Aomine..-sama..." A soft voice spoke up, breaking the tense silence in the room. The King turned away from the window to spare the boy a glance, not noticing when he had come inside, before looking back out of the window to watch the scum who were being slaughtered outside.

"What, Tetsu..?"

"I-Is this the best course of action?" The question was full of hesitation and sorrow. So many innocent people were being killed right now because of his Kings orders. Hearing the tone of the others voice, the man turned back around to face him, narrowing his eyes at the expression on his face.

"They are ungrateful, Tetsu. I provide them with places to live and yet they dared to rise up today. They deserve this."

"Please, this...this is inhumane... Even if you view them as such, no one deserves to be treated like that, Aomine-kun." The bluenette used the name that he used to call the man by, in hopes of making him realize just how dire this situation was. But, when the tanned man only became angrier, he knew that it had the opposite effect.

The man rose and strode across the room smacking the smaller hard, making the boy fall to the ground, who held his cheek with a surprised look on his face. Never... never had he hit him, especially not that hard.

They were frozen in that position, angry dark blue eyes glaring into emotionless light blue. Those emotionless eyes used to be so full of life. Before everything had happened, they would sparkle with life and love when they landed on the tanned mans face. But now..they were dulled and it made the King irate.

"I'll...be going then...Aomine-sama..." Detached blue eyes broke the eye contact, and the blue-haired teen stood heading for the exit. Things were going to get bad...the Rukh warned him and he had to take heed. But as his hand grabbed the doorknob, he was stopped when a callused hand gripped his elbow.

He would make those eyes go back to how they were... He violently pulled the boy away from the door and towards the four-poster bed that was also adorned in gems and silk. Throwing the pale teen onto the mountain of pillows, he climbed onto the mattress, proceeding to kiss and undress him. And without warning or preparation he entered him, making the other clench his teeth together at the pain.

"Tetsu..." The man ground out in between thrusts, eyes closed in pleasure. But when he didn't hear the other say anything, they opened and narrowed. Those eyes were still glazed, perhaps even more so, now. He couldn't take it...he wanted to see those eyes fill with something, anything! Still inside of him, he rose his hands and grasped the lean neck, harshly.

"A-Aom..mine...-sa..ma." He barely managed to ground out in pain because of the merciless way the other was thrusting inside of him and the large hands that were squeezing his throat.

The small bluenette raised his arms and gripped the tanned wrists that belonged to his master, in an attempt to lessen the pressure that was around his neck. But it didn't help since the other was stronger than him, and he wouldn't dare to use his magic against the person he swore his life to.

"Wasn't it YOU who chose ME to be King?! Why are you going against me, Tetsu?!" The angered man added more pressure to the neck that was in his hands.

Blue eyes were filled with tears as he stared into the cold dark blue ones inches away from his. His vision was slowly being tinted with black shadows, only strangled gasps forced their way from his throat as the boys empty lungs tried to receive air. Pale hands fell limply to the owners sides, who no longer had the strength to lift them.

"Why'd you follow me all of those times?! You're mine, Tetsu! MY Magi." The King could see nothing, eyes clouded with anger. "I will NOT let you leave me!" He put all his feelings of anxiety and irritation in this sentence, pounding into the smaller body beneath him with each word.

But the words fell on deaf ears, sapphire eyes were closed, chest no longer moving, and body unnaturally still. As he released, the haze in his mind finally dissipated. And he looked down at the other, wanting to apologize for losing his control once again. But when they saw how lifeless his friend looked, he froze.

Dark blue eyes widened in horror as he stared down at the body of the person in front of him. Paler than normal, and unmoving.

"T-Tetsu..?" He took his hands off of the slender bruised throat and removed himself from the boy's body, anger gone, replaced with disbelief and penitence. Shakily, he rose a hand to check the boys pulse, the same one that had just a few moments ago were used in violence.

Nothing... No thump... No movement... Just deathly stillness and silence. He shook the boy, hoping he'd wake up. When he just moved limply at the movement, he knew... Slowly, he brought the boy to his lap and held him.

What had he done..? How could he..? He had been so angry, so fed up with the citizens petty complaints, with his partners apprehension of his decisions... But that was no reason to do..what he had done.

Magi's were beings of pure magic, and once they died... Mournful blue eyes watched as the form of his friend disintegrated slowly, feet first and slowly making its way up to his head. The light of the Rukh's floated around the body before raising into the air and disappearing.

King Aomine stared blankly at the vacant space where his friends body once laid.

* * *

_"Why are you following me, kid?" Dark blue eyes that belonged to the sixteen year old Aomine glared at the annoying twelve-year old who was following him around once again that day._

_"You...Just feel right." Came the reply from the boy._

_"Hah..?" The boy just stared at the older persons disbelieving face, before nodding to himself as if confirming something he had just thought of._

_"I've decided. I'll make you King one day." The teen froze at the determined tone in the others voice. He grew up on the streets and now this kid was telling him that he'd be King? Nonsense._

* * *

Tanned fists clenched as he remembered the bold statement the other had said.

* * *

_"What? No way. Buzz off." Was this boy crazy..? But his doubtfulness disappeared when a pale arm rose and revealed a scepter. As he did, the Rukh from the Kingdom all swarmed towards them both._

_Aomine's eyes widened in shock. Only...magicians or Magi's could do that... He looked back down at the boy who had a small amused smile on his face._

_"I'll be your Magi. I'll follow behind you and make you shine above all else. Together, you _will _become King."_

_Aomine stared into the boys unwavering gaze and...he found himself believing him..._

* * *

He now wished that he had denied the boy... If he had, then...He'd still be alive...

* * *

_"Alright... I'll play along for now." The tanned teen resumed walking down the dirt roads at a slower pace than before so the kid could keep up. Seeing the way the other still had to run to keep up, he grinned in amusement, making the other pout._

_"I'm Aomine Daiki. What about you?"_

_"Kuroko. Kuroko Tetsuya."_

_"Hah...That's too long." He said lazily. "I'll just call you Tetsu."_

_"Okay, Aomine-kun..." Aomine smiled at the cute way the boy had said the name, and ruffled his hair._

_"Let's go, you have to make me...'shine'." Aomine said, mockingly. Still not totally believing the weak looking boy, even if he were a Magi._

_"Yes..." Kuroko smiled up at the teen. And they began their long journey together._

* * *

Aomine felt tears of frustration make their way down his cheeks. When...When had he forgotten all the things the other had done for him..? And this was how he had repaid him... He remembered the pained look on the others face as he had...raped him...Killed him...

Gone...He was gone.

"I'm sorry..." Came the heartbroken voice. "I'm so sorry, Tetsu..."

In the background, as he wept, the screams of the peasants could be heard.

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**A/N 2: **Omg, I cried so much writing this... Dx Might just leave it as a one-shot...So sad Dx Should I continue?


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: **I'll try to continue this since so many wanted it! XD Thanks for all fo the reviews! deLovelyBones, Puncakegoddess, Iany-chan, Serya-chan, Reazthie, Rika Tone, Killua17, gsinbyk, xXxRenxXx, and BrokenWings66! =)

**Warning: Violence.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or Magi.**

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**Chapter 1**

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_**The Room**_

A large room incased in gold, adobe buildings lined the walls a few oil lamps were placed throughout the area. Multiple paths of staircases, some upside down and sideways, leading up to the non-encased ceiling. And in the middle of the room, sitting on the bottom stair was a teen with tinted orange hair. He was staring mournfully at the floating sphere in front of him.

The Rukh were rebuilding the body of a Magi once again, and if the familiar blue hair was anything to go by, it was the one he had personally greeted last time.

_'Only four years...huh?'_

The head was fully regrown and he saw a white-gold and sapphire earring was attached to the boys ear. Usually all possessions the Magi obtained during their previous life disappeared after they died. The only exception was when an object meant more to them than just material possession.

_'You really loved your old master, didn't you Kuroko..?'_

There was a slight movement out of the corner of his eyes as the sphere slowly dissolved and the Rukh around it, slowed down. Turning, he watched as the boy's feet slowly touched the ground and after a moment blue eyes opened. He contained his excitement, wanting to greet the boy who had smiled up at him and laughed at his jokes years ago.

He remembered the day that the Rukh had made the boy and they had first met here in this labyrinth. The bright and innocent smile he had given him, a mere Djinn. He had been so eager to see new things and new people.

The Rukh could rebuild bodies and erase memories, but some emotions were another thing, and seeing that expressionless face on the usually cheerful twelve-year olds face, the orange-haired teen felt even more hatred for the boys previous master. He smiled sadly before putting on his usual grin when he saw the blue-haired boy look at him in confusion. He hurriedly introduced himself once again.

_'Alright! This just means I have to try harder to make him smile!'_

"I'm Ogiwara Shigehiro! The Djinn that takes care of this place." He spread his arms wide, gesturing to the huge gold incased room they were in. "And you are?" He already knew but the other didn't know that he did.

"Ah..Kuroko Tetsuya. It's a pleasure to meet you, Ogiwara-kun." He bowed to the teen in front of him. Straightening, the reborn Magi looked around and he asked hesitantly. "Wh-where is this..?"

_'Still as polite as ever...'_

"This is where people are sent when they are to be reassigned." Ogiwara wasn't allowed to let anyone know about the real reason they had wound up here...But he was fine with that, since he didn't think people would take the whole 'you died' speech well...

"Reassigned?"

_'Ahh...I need to explain things better!'_ It had been four years since he did this, ironically for the same person in front of him.

"Yes, you will be sent to the world to explore. And if anyone feels...odd to you then you'll know what to do when the time comes. Understand?" He seemed even more confused after that, but he didn't know how to explain it better...so he went on to the next matter.

"This is your magic channeler. The light butterflies floating around you right now are called Rukh, it's the basic form of all life. You can use the scepter to make them gather around you." He handed the blue-haired boy a silver pole that had a blue sphere at the top of it. "To bring out or make your scepter disappear, you only need to think about it, okay?"

Kuroko tried and sure enough, it disappeared a few seconds later. His eyes widened a little, but it was nothing compared to how his reaction was when he had learned of it four years ago... How the boy had practically jumped in joy at seeing such a magnificent thing and being the one to do it.

He stared at the boy with pained eyes and immediately knew. He couldn't send him on his own with no protection like last time...He had to make sure he was okay on his journey. Taking off one of the bracelets from his wrist, he grabbed the boy's hand.

"If you ever need help. Don't hesitate to summon me." Kuroko watched as Ogiwara clamped the piece of jewelry onto his wrist and he was about to say that it was too big, but almost immediately it shrunk to fit his smaller wrist perfectly. He stared at the golden object in wonder. There was something warm about it that made him feel safe.

"Thank you, Ogiwara-kun." The bluenette gave the teen in front of him a small but thankful smile. Making the orange head blush.

_'Good, he can still smile...Maybe the trauma isn't permanent.'_

"Alright! Get going before I change my mind!" He shouted, patting the boy's head.

"Ah, yes." He still felt a little overwhelmed at going somewhere he'd never been to before, but was curious about this 'world' Ogiwara had talked about. "I'll be going then."

"Good luck..." Ogiwara watched as the boy bowed to him before turning and heading for the door of light that led to the human world.

_'I feel like I forgot something...'_ He put a finger to his chin and thought hard. The orange-haired teen started pacing and heard a jingling noise every time he moved, he paused. _'Money pouch...'_

"I forgot to give him the money!" He shouted into the empty room in horror. Not only was he going to be in trouble, but now the bluenette didn't have money! It was too late now...The only way he could leave this area was if the boy summoned him...He sighed and plopped back down on the steps, angry at his forgetfulness...

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_**The World**_

_'This is...the world?'_ He only saw sand...lots and lots of sand... The boy turned, hearing some sounds in the distance. So he walked in that direction, seeing a few buildings as he got closer to the noise.

Blue eyes looked at the hundreds of people who were crowded in the narrow walkway. Carts full of stuff were lined up on either side of the place. It was loud and hectic, and it made the bluenette feel uncomfortable. But, seeing as that was the only way to go, or he'd have to go back into the desert, he walked forward.

People didn't notice him so many times he got pushed or shoved into the crowd. But eventually the roughness dwindled, allowing him to look at his surroundings.

"Apples, get your apples here!" He turned at the loud voice and saw that there were dozens of people crowded around a cart that had red things in it, so he went closer to see what everyone was looking at.

_'Apples..?'_ Curious blue eyes stared at the round objects in front of him.

"Would you like an apple, kid?" The man behind the cart asked, noticing the boy in front of him after a while.

"Yes, please." He wanted to see if they were good since everyone seemed eager to buy them. The man smiled at the boy and handed him the fruit.

"That'll be one silver." He held out his hand, which remained empty since the boy was just looking at him in confusion.

"Silver..?" He tilted his head, not understanding what the man was talking about. This answer implied to the merchant that the boy had no intention of paying him and his mood took a 180.

"No money, no food." The merchant frowned at the boy and grabbed the apple back. "Now beat it, I've got paying customers to attend to."

Kuroko didn't know what he'd done to the person to make him mad, but he didn't want to cause any troubles so he started to turn to walk away, when a hand landed on his shoulder stopping him.

"I'll pay it for him." A man said from behind them and the blue-haired boy turned to look at him. It was a middle-aged man with a beard and black hair wrapped in a head scarf.

The merchant turned away from his customer to look at the person who just spoke and saw the man had a silver coin in his hand, holding it out to him. He took the coin and gave him the apple.

"Thanks for your purchase." The merchant grinned and pocketed the money.

The man handed the bluenette the apple and steered him away from the merchant shops so it was less noisy.

"Thank you very much." He gave the man a bow once they were away from the large crowd.

"It's no problem, kid." He looked around while the boy munched on the apple he had gotten, who winced.

_'Sour...'_ But, he kept eating it since the other had been nice enough to get it for him.

"Haha, not good?" He had seen the wince. "If you want, I could get you something sweet."

"It's fine. I wouldn't want to be a bother and you already gave me this. I couldn't possibl-."

"Nonsense! It's no trouble at all!" The man stood and held out his hand for the short boy to take. Taking his hand, the both walked towards one of the carts and the man ordered himself a beer and the boy something called juice. They headed to another secluded area to drink their drinks. When the man tried to give pass him his juice, he felt bad.

"I don't have 'silver' for it..." He frowned. After seeing what the man gave the other merchant, he assumed silver was a metal that people wanted.

"It's fine! This is free. No payment necessary." The man handed the boy a cup, who accepted it hesitantly. "Here."

_'Free..?'_

"Ah, thank you." The bluenette brought the cup to his mouth and took a sip, drinking more when he found that it tasted good.

The black-haired man watched the boy drink with a smile on his face. It was a bit weird to the bluenette, but he assumed the man was probably thinking about something that made him happy.

He was about to bring the juice back to his mouth when he started feeling weird... His mind felt foggy, and he felt light-headed. And his body was starting to feel numb, making him drop the cup that was in his hands. He tried to apologize, but he couldn't get the words out.

_'Wh-What's going on..?'_

"Ah...Don't fight it kid, I slipped some of this into it while you weren't looking. It's pointless anyway, this stuff can paralyze even an adult for a while. Just be a good boy and relax." Kuroko used the last of his strength to look at the man who was smiling down at him. When he saw that smile, he knew something was wrong and he tried to get his body to move, but it was useless and he fell to the ground as the strength left him.

The man grinned and bent down, picking the boy up and putting him over his shoulder before walking.

"Don't worry. Since you're such a polite and cute looking boy, I'm sure there'll be many offers for you." The man said as he carried the conscious, but paralyzed boy to the carriage that his partner was waiting at.

"Sorry for being late." He said, placing the boy in the back of the carriage when they arrived.

"Eh..? He's a bit small for working don't you think?" The brown-haired man said.

"Idiot! I'm not talking about him working. There are other things slaves are good for."

"Ah..Well, he does have a cute face..." He grinned. "Alright, let's g-."

"What do you bastards think you're doing?!" A rough voice shouted from behind, making them turn around. Kuroko watched with hazy eyes as the teen approached the two men. "Take that kid out of your carriage..."

"Buzz off, we got this kid fair and square. It's not against the law to do this anymore."

"Even so, I won't allow such acts!" The red-haired teen pull the sword out from its sheath, that was attached to his back. Seeing this, the two men also brought out their khopesh's.

"It's two against one. Just back away."

"Hah? Two verse one...That's no fair..." The teen grinned. "You'll need at least twenty to beat me."

"Y-You...!" They charged at him. There was no way they could lose against a teen half their age.

But when the red-head dodged and expertly disarmed one of them, they started getting worried. With reckless and quick slashes he managed to knock the others sword from his hands. And with the two of them sword-less, he sheathed his sword and attacked them with his fists.

They didn't expect someone like him to be this strong...And within a minute they were both on the ground covered in bruises and aching all over. The red-head looked at them in disappointment. He had hoped they would put up a better fight...but oh well.

He stepped over the pained men and went to the carriage. Looking inside he saw the blue-haired boy inside and picked him up, wincing a little at how light he was. He was glad that he stepped in...if this boy were forced into slavery, he doubted he would've made it. Still holding him, he glared at the two on the ground.

"Give me the antidote..." The beaten up man shakily brought his hand to the insides of his robes, and handed the teen a vial. "Now get lost!"

The two of them hurriedly went to the front of the carriage and drove away.

"Tch...bastards..." The red-head muttered, before turning back to the paralyzed boy. "You're going to be fine. Just drink this."

He tilted the pale boys head back and poured the liquid into his mouth. A few minutes later, Kuroko could finally feel his body and shakily stood.

"Th-Thank you." He tried to bow, but swayed a bit, still not completely back to normal.

"No problem. Don't go accepting stuff from strangers, okay kid?" The red-haired teen ruffled the boy's hair and headed back on his way to where he was going before he had seen the suspicious looking men.

As he walked down the nearly empty city streets, he could hear footsteps behind him every now and then...But when he turned around he didn't notice anyone...Was he being paranoid..?

He was about to put it down to that explanation when he suddenly saw something beside him, out of the corner of his eyes and turned. He almost had a heart attack when he saw it was the boy he had just saved. How had he caught up to him?! Better yet, why?!

"Look kid...I know I saved you and all...BUT will you stop following me?!" Kagami glared at the boy.

"Ah..." The bluenette had a slight frown on his face.

"I can't be babysitting you. I have a job to do!" He tried to make the saddened boy understand. Seeing the boy was about to respond, he continued. "And it's too dangerous for a kid to come with me." Satisfied with his own statement he went back to eating.

"I...See..." He frowned, making the other feel horrible.

"I guess I can help you look for your parents at least...Where are they?"

"Parents..?" What were those..?

"Yeah, the people who you live with. Your mom and dad!" Still confusion on the boys face.

"I do not know anyone like that..." Kuroko said.

_'Maybe he means Ogiwara-kun..?'_

_'What..?'_ How could this kid not know of his own parents?!

"What exactly do you remember..?" Seriously the naiveness of this boy was incredible. Falling for such an obvious kidnapping attempt and having little to no knowledge about a lot of stuff...

"I woke up in a room a few hours ago..." He put a finger to his lips and tried to think of anything else that could help, but couldn't. "I don't really remember anything other than that..."

_'Doesn't remember anything...Could he have amnesia...Is that why he looks so emotionless all of the time..?'_ Kagami groaned. He couldn't possible leave an oblivious boy like this alone...especially with his cute looks. There would be more incidents like what happened before...

"Alright...you can tag along until we get to the orphanage..." Even if he couldn't leave him alone, he also couldn't take him along on such dangerous missions.

The boy nodded and followed the teen. They walked for a few minutes in silence, before the red-head felt his stomach growl. He stopped and turned to the blue-haired boy next to him.

"Want to eat?"

"Anything but apples..." Kuroko said, remembering the sour food he had before. Kagami chuckled at the random response.

They both headed to a nearby tavern. Which smelled weird to the boy, but the older seemed to not mind, so he didn't worry about it too much. Sitting at one of the tables near the door, they waited to place their orders.

"What would you both like?" A woman asked, looking as if she'd rather be a million miles away from this place.

"I'll have three steaks. What do you want, kid?"

"Mm... I don't know..."

_'Oh right...amnesia...'_

"Give him some chicken and fruit. No apples though..." He saw the relieved look the other sent him and laughed, making the waitress confused. She nodded and took her leave.

A few minutes later their food arrived and Kagami dug into it. Kuroko tried some of the chicken and the oval-shaped green fruits, deciding he liked them better than the meat, he ate them.

"Hurry and eat so we can go to the orphanage, I have to slay something by tomorrow and collect my reward." He spoke, cheeks full of food.

He could tell that the 'orphanage' was some place that the other had to leave him at, and for some reason...Kuroko didn't want to leave this teen...he felt something about him. So he tried to understand why the other wanted him gone.

"Why are you doing such dangerous jobs?" The bluenette asked.

"Isn't it obvious?! The challenge!" A huge grin replaced the red-heads scowl. "Testing your strength and beating your opponent!"

Kuroko tilted his head to the side, not really understanding the others reasoning. Seeing the look, he sighed.

"And the money is good too. I can buy a whole lot of food and weapons!"

_'Ah...That money thing again...'_ He decided to let the matter drop and ate a few more of the grapes. Everything in this place was weird. Selling people, trading food and risking your life for pieces of metal...He'd never understand it.

As they finished their meal, the red-head eating the rest that the bluenette couldn't finish, he decided it was time to go and reached into the pouch hanging from his belt, trying to get a few coins from it to pay.

"Ah..." Kagami unclipped the bag and looked inside of his money pouch, seeing that it was empty...

_'Forgot I spent all of my money on this sword...'_

"You wouldn't happen to have money, would you..?" He asked sheepishly, scratching his cheek. When he received a shake of the head, he sighed.

_'Of course he wouldn't...He has freaking amnesia!'_ Seeing there was only one way out of this situation, Kagami looked around the room before whispering to the boy in front of him.

"Okay...When I count to three...run...and don't stop or look back no matter what. Got it?" Kuroko was confused, but nodded in confirmation.

"One...Two...Three!" Both the red and blue-haired boys ran out of the restaurant, ignoring the angry calls of the owner.

"He seemed mad..." The bluenette said when they were far away from the tavern and had slowed down to a walk.

"Eh..." Kagami could see the kid felt guilty so he tried to make him feel better. "That food was free, he just wanted us to eat more...yeah..."

"Oh, yes free." Kuroko said accepting the explanation, remembering the man from before had said that some things didn't need to be paid for.

_'He believed me?!'_ Kagami felt even worse now for tricking him so easily...

They walked down the dirt roads, until they saw something that made them stop. A few meters away there were two men glaring down at a homeless looking woman who was on her knees begging. As they got closer, they could make out what they were saying.

"Hey, you got dirt on my robes, you scum!" One of the nicely dressed men said.

"I-I'm sorry!" The woman apologized, only to scream in pain as she received a kick to the face.

"Sorry won't get this mark off of my clothes, moron! What are you going to do about it, huh?!" He kicked the fallen womans side.

"P-Please, I don't have money to pay for it...I'm really s-sorry..." Seeing the man about to kick the woman again, Kagami got fed up.

_'How dare they do that to someone for such a petty reason?!'_ Kagami gritted his teeth.

"More of those bastards...Stay here, I'll handl-." He stopped talking, noticing that the boy had disappeared. He looked around wildly for him and was about to go back to the restaurant to search for him along the way, when he heard his voice a few feet away...right in front of the men who were hurting the woman.

"Please, it's not good to use violence." The blue-haired boy stared up at the two men in front of him, standing between them and the woman.

_'What the hell is he doing?!'_ He thought in horror. Why was such a weak boy standing up to men who could break him like a twig?! He snapped out of his disbelief when he saw one of them grab the boy's shirt and pick him off of the ground with one hand.

"You brat, what do you think you're doing?"

"This is wrong. Hitting people is bad." Even the amnesic could tell that people bringing pain to others wasn't good.

"Hah? Who do you think you are, kid?!" The man yelled and was about to punch the boy, when a large hand stopped him.

"I'd put him down if I were you." A harsh voice spoke. He turned and saw a muscular teen with dark red hair. He was about to shout back at him immediately, when he saw the intense animal like fire in the others red eyes, making him shiver in fear a bit.

_'Tch, he's just a kid too! Don't feel intimidated!'_

"Why don't you mind your own business, boy!" He shouted, trying to get him to leave. But when the hand only tightened on his arm, he gasped in pain and dropped the boy, who fell to the ground. "Ow! Let go!"

"Hah? You like causing others pain, but can't deal with just this much?" Kagami was not impressed.

"Y-You brat! Let go of him!" The other man said, charging to punch the teen.

Kagami, still gripping the mans arm, brought up his leg and kicked the other in the stomach, making him fall backwards onto the barrels nearby. The man he was holding took his chance to try to swing his free arm to hit the red-head, but he couldn't move his arm and looked down to see the blue-haired boy was holding onto him with both arms.

The red-head, realizing what the man had just tried to do, scowled and punched the man in the face, sending him crashing into the barrels as well.

"Now since all of your clothing is dirty, I don't think you have any reason to pick on this lady anymore, right?" Kagami glared down at the two of them, who stared back with annoyed expressions before yelping and running when the red-heads glare got more intense.

"Are you okay, ma'am?" He heard the bluenette ask as he bent down to help the woman up.

"Ah...yes...Thank you both very much!" She bowed to them, gratefully. "If there's anything I can do..."

"No need. I'd have done it eventually. I hate bastards like that..." Kagami looked in the direction that they had fled, making sure they wouldn't come back. "You should get going in case they decide they want revenge."

"Oh! Alright, thank you again!" She smiled and hurried away, leaving the red and blue-haired boys alone.

Kagami stared at the bluenette eyes narrowed as he thought back to what he had done before. He had stopped that man from punching him when he wasn't paying attention...

"You may not be strong, but at least you have guts, kid..." The red-head sighed, when the boy tilted his head at him. "Fine...You can come with me..."

The red-haired teen was about to leave it at that, when he realized that he didn't know the boy's name, and vice versa.

"I'm Kagami Taiga. You?"

"Kuroko. Kuroko Tetsuya."

"Alright, Kuroko. Let's get going!" Kagami grinned, picked up his sword and started walking again. For a second, the blue-haired boy saw the image of someone tanned replacing the red-heads figure, but when he blinked the image disappeared so he shrugged it off. "Well, are you coming?"

"Yes..." The bluenette gave the enthusiastic teen a small smile, following behind him.

* * *

**A/N 2:**

Ages of Characters so far:

**Aomine** - 20

**Ogiwara** - looks 16 (hundreds of years old because he's a Djinn)

**Kuroko** - 12

**Kagami** - 16


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Thank you for all of the reviews! :D Killua17, Puncakegoddess, clarit, Rika Tone, Reazthie, deLovelyBones, and Guest! =)

**A/N 2:** There's a little time skip from last chapter and this one, and sorry for causing confusion! In the prologue, Kuroko was 16 and Aomine was 20 (12 and 16 in the flashback). It took a few months for the rebirth and it reverted him back to 12 to erase the memories, since it was before he became Aomine's Magi. =)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or Magi**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

* * *

**_The World_**

"Che...That man didn't pay much..." Kagami grumbled, looking at the few pieces of gold in his hands.

He and Kuroko had met with the person who hired the red-head to slay the monster that had attacked citizens in the woods, but as Kagami found out, the job didn't fit the pay.

"Is that not enough, Kagami-kun?" Kuroko had learned many new things during the past few days. What monsters were, the use of money and not to talk to strange people... Which he had almost done once again the day before, making the red-head have to save him...

"Well...it's enough to get a room for tonight and some food I guess..." He had wanted to buy some new things, but now it seemed impossible... It wasn't the bluenette's fault, it was cheap to feed him. The blue-haired boy hardly ate anything other than fruit, since he didn't like meat. Which Kagami thought was insane! Meat was glorious! The low-income was just bad luck at finding good jobs to do...

"I don't mind..'camping' again Kagami-kun." The bluenette said, remembering what the other had called sleeping outside.

_'Mm...I don't want to make him sleep outside again...'_ Even though the boy had said he was fine, Kagami swore he saw him shivering that night...But at this rate, they may have to.

"Let's go to the market and see if there are anymore small jobs we can do before night-time." Kuroko nodded and followed him towards the busy area, making sure to stick close so he didn't get lost.

They made their way to the wanted board, looking for anything like finding a cat or something that'd only take a few hours to finish.

Kuroko sat beside the red-head as he looked at the board, and stared at the Rukh that were floating around him. They had weirded him a little at first, since it was like having butterflies constantly flying around him, but he was getting used to seeing them all the time. And not only that, but sometimes he could hear them talking, which would make the red-head look at him oddly for staring into space.

Just as Kagami taught him about the world, he also learned a lot from them about magic. How to control it, how it varied and the strengths and weaknesses of spells. But since he hadn't seen anyone else using anything like that, he assumed he shouldn't mention it, so he hadn't told his friend yet.

Kagami, seeing mostly jobs that'd take them at least two days...was about to give up, when someone approached him.

"You're looking for a job?"

"Yeah." Kagami said, turning around to face the person who had spoken. He was a slightly chubby man and a little on the short side.

"I need to deliver these goods to the city of garnet, by tomorrow. I will supply the carriage, I just need bodyguards in case bandits come." The man pointed to a carriage with barrels of melons, apples, and grapes inside. "I'll pay twenty gold if we make it there safely."

Kagami thought about it...He had never been to a city of garnet before, but the request seemed legit. But the chance of bandits attacking a fruit cart was rather odd... However, if they did go through with this, then they'd have somewhere to rest for the night... Looking down at Kuroko, he nodded.

"Alright."

"Great! Would it be alright if we leave immediately?" Kagami raised a brow at the sudden rushing attitude, so the man hurriedly explained. Not wanting to lose his newly found bodyguard. "I have other business at Kaijo tomorrow."

Accepting the answer, Kagami shrugged, the faster this was done, the faster they could continue on their way. The three of them headed closer to the carriage, seeing that there was someone else there as well.

"This is my driver." He pointed to a man dressed in plain off-white robes who was at the front, holding the reins. The man nodded in greeting towards the red-haired teen.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both." Kuroko bowed at the two men, who looked at him. They hadn't noticed that the red-head had a companion with him. And now that they saw him, they wouldn't help but notice that he would be worth a lot... However, when they looked back up to the red-head, who must have seen their intentions, they immediately erased those plans from their minds. He looked ready to kill...

"Y-Yeah, nice to meet you as well..." He replied, still feeling the deadly glare aimed at him. "Alright, so you both can ride inside of the carriage with me. If all goes well, you won't have to do anything. But if that's the case, then the pay will be a little lower, fair?" When the red-head agreed, he went inside of the vehicle, the bluenette following.

Once all of the merchandise was secured and everyone was settled, the carriage pulled out of the market, and headed down the dirt path that led to garnet city. Kuroko sat on the edge of the carriage, looking at the marks the wheels made as it drove over the dirt. It was his first carriage ride and Kagami, who was sitting on the wooden seat of the carriage, scoffed at the slight excitment in the others eyes.

"So, are the two of you brothers?" The man asked after a few minutes. They seemed close to each other even if they didn't look alike.

Kuroko turned around at the voice and noticed a slight change in the red-heads demeanor, getting worried he was about to ask what was wrong. But it was quickly covered up and the red-head answered the man.

"We're friends." Kagami said, embarrassed at admitting that in front of the bluenette. He tried to act as cool as possible to show off to him, and to say such sappy things... He spared the bluenette a side glance and saw him smiling up at him and quickly looked away. Kuroko hadn't expected the statement, but was glad the other felt that way.

They spent their journey chatting about past jobs and what they'd do when they got to their destination. Eventually as night came around, the bluenette yawned and sat beside the red-head, knowing it'd be bad if he were to fall asleep and fall out of the vehicle. Kagami saw that he tried to stay up a little longer, but a few minutes later he felt something on his side and saw the bluenette was leaning against him, sleeping.

Kagami smiled slightly, glad that the other finally fell asleep. Seeing the man had fallen asleep too, Kagami decided to relax too, still being alert though in case.

The ride was quiet, the driver riding steadily down the path, until the bluenette heard something.

_"Wake up. Wake up."_ Kuroko's eyes twitched underneath his closed eyelids, as he heard the soft voices of the Rukh. Slowly waking up from his sleep and opening his eyes, he looked around. The Rukh were flying around crazily, which the bluenette noticed only happened when there was danger. Just like when the monster Kagami had to slay had appeared.

"Something's coming." Kuroko said, uncertainty in his voice.

Kagami, snapping out of his semi asleep state, and looked at the bluenette with confusion, but lifted his sword.

A moment later, an arrow hit the wooden floor next to their sleeping employer, whose eyes opened at the sound of metal piercing wood. Seeing that an arrow nearly missed him, he jumped up and looked around.

"Wh-What's going on?!" He shouted at the red-head who had stood up and was holding his sword.

"We're under attack..." He mumbled, staring in the direction the arrow had come from. Seriously...why were people attacking them for fruit..? All of a sudden the carriage stopped.

"Why are you stopping?!" The man yelled at his driver. Slowly raising a hand, he pointed towards the road in front of them.

"Get out of the carriage, now!" Someone shouted. Knowing they had no choice but to, they exited the carriage, looking over Kagami saw a group of bandits there. There were five people dressed in black and white bandit clothing. Their faces were covered in masks so they couldn't identify them.

"Hand over your merchandise!" A female voice spoke up, that had to belong to the person at the front, who was the only one that had a feminine figure.

"Hah? Why don't you try to take it..?" Kagami grinned, excited at the prospect of fighting.

"Gladly.." The woman shot forward at an unbelievable speed and aimed a kick at the red-heads face, who barely managed to block it with his sword. Undeterred by the failed attack, she twisted in the air to kick at him again, connecting with his side. Kagami could feel one of his ribs breaking upon impact. Kuroko wanted to help, but the red-head held up his hand signaling for him to stay back.

_'C-Crap...she hits hard...'_ They weren't just some weak bandit group...they obviously had skills... But that just made it all the more fun for Kagami.

"You'll have to do better than that." She mocked, but frowned when her mask fell off. Kagami had managed to hit her before he fell. Standing up, wearing a toothy grin on his face, Kagami spoke.

"You're a Fanalis..?" Kagami asked the woman, seeing the birthmark on the womans face that belonged to the rare group of people who had amazing strength. She immediately covered her face with the ripped cloth and glared.

"So what if I am?" Everyone knew that Fanalis were wanted since they were perfect for slavery, but Kagami didn't believe in all that stuff. He only saw a strong opponent! But as he went to continue their fight, two of the bandits went to their leaders aid, attacking the red-head, so he had to deal with them instead.

The man with the bow shot arrows towards the carriage, which the driver, who seemed to have some combat experience of his own, blocked with a sword. All of a sudden there was a scream of pain and the woman saw that one of her group had been injured by the red-head. Seeing her friend hurt she glared at the teen.

"You're horrible! Siding with those vermin!" The woman shouted and charged at the red-head, who was busy fighting the other bandit who hadn't been wounded. Kuroko couldn't let her harm his friend, even if the bluenette wasn't sure what a 'Fanalis' was, he had seen how powerful she was and he knew he had to stop her.

He did as Ogiwara said, thinking of the object and it appeared in his hand a second later. Calling the Rukh around him, they gathered inside of the orb of the scepter. Before the woman could reach his friend he pointed at her and the magic shot towards her, catching her off guard when she was suddenly lifted into the air.

"Riko!" One of them yelled, seeing their leader being restrained by some glowing sphere. Kagami looked at the bluenette in shock, who had a scepter in his hands that was glowing the same color as the sphere.

"Whoa! You're a magician boy? Kill them!" The man, who had run back inside the carriage for safety, yelled.

Kuroko couldn't even consider doing that...

"Please, we shouldn't fight." The bandits stared at the boy with confusion. They hadn't expected the man to hire a magician...and for him to be able to manipulate magic like that, the boy was obviously a powerful one...

When the bandit he was fighting, turned to stare at the sight, Kagami saw his chance and disarmed him, leaving the person defenseless. Pointing his sword at him, he tried to convince them to leave.

"Back off. There's nothing here of value, we are just transporting goods." Kagami said, hoping he wouldn't have to kill anyone. Bandits were people who were low on luck and resorted to stealing. But even if he felt sorry for them, if they tried to cause harm to any of them, then he'd have no choice but to.

"You expect us to believe that?" A male voice sounded from one of the bandits who had glasses covering his eyes, which were the only thing visible since he had a scarf around his mouth. "That man there is known for his black market deals. There has to be something inside of that carriage!"

Kuroko tilted his head in confusion, looking at the barrels of fruit. It didn't seem suspicious... Kagami thought the same, but when he saw their employer start to look anxious, he became suspicious. Walking into the carriage, he moved the man who was trying to protect his luggage out of the way. Grabbing the barrel of apples, he emptied the contents and froze at what was inside.

_'Drugs..?'_ Kagami stared at the man packages of powder that had been covered by the fruit. Dumping the other barrels, he saw they were the same. These were the type of people he hated the most...selling this to people who were desperate enough to buy it. Making them suffer...He couldn't believe he had fought for these two... He wouldn't anymore, money or not.

"I think we're done here." Kagami glared at the frightened man, who suddenly got angry at the fact they were going against their agreement.

"Y-You promised to guard us all the way to the city of garnet! How dare you take back your word!" The red-haired teen was getting fed up with the man and would've hit him, but when he moved, the pain from his broken rib made him stop.

Seeing that the red-head was in pain, the man used the chance to kick him off of the carriage. While they were distracted he yelled to his driver, who had snuck back to the reins.

"Go!" Not needing any more instruction, the driver sped away taking the men away from the bandits and the other two.

Seeing that the fighting was over, Kuroko slowly lowered the scepter, the sphere trapping the woman lowering as well. When it touched the ground it dissolved back into Rukh.

"I'm sorry for attacking you..." The brunette woman looked up at the blue-haired boy, who was holding out a hand to help her up.

_'Why is he apologizing..?'_ She stared up at the boy with cautious eyes, but saw nothing but honest intentions behind those emotionless blue eyes.

The other bandits, who were further away, couldn't see this however, and thinking he had an ulterior motive, the glasses wearing bandit with the bow started to run forward to help, but she held up a hand to stop him. Sill staring at the boy, she accepted the hand and stood.

"Thank you..." She dusted off her clothes.

"Tch...those men ran away..." Kagami grumbled at the wasted time. Not only that, but with their employer gone, so was their payment...

"They won't get far." The woman said, making Kagami look at her. He realized what she meant, two of the bandits were gone meaning they had chased after them. At least they'd pay for what they were going to do...

"I'm sorry...Kagami-kun." The bluenette looked towards the ground. He wasn't sure what the bags of powder were, but he had ignored the mans orders to finish them off, and he assumed that's partly why he left them. He had caused them to fail the job...and after all the red-head had done for him... Feeling pressure on his head, he looked up and saw the other was patting his hair.

"Don't be..." Kagami couldn't believe how earnest this boy was. Feeling bad for people who had just attacked them... "It was for the best anyway, those people were right about those men. Selling drugs is a bad thing by the way." He said, knowing the bluenette knew nothing about such things, he had seen the confusion in his face when he saw the contents in the carriage.

"Ah.." Kuroko smiled a little, relieved that he hadn't disappointed his friend. Kagami grinned, before turning back to the three who were staring at them. The man with the glasses, the one he had wounded and the Fanalis woman.

"How'd you all know about that man? And why were you so desperate to stop him?" He couldn't help but wonder why a group like this would become bandits.

"He's one of the henchmen of a bastard who tricked one of our friends..." From the tone of the mans voice, he knew it was a sensitive subject.

"We promised to stop them from selling to anyone else." The woman had tears in her eyes as she said the next part. "Because of them Kiyo... our friend is sick and bed-ridden." She still didn't completely trust these two, even if they had spared them and hadn't gone with the drug dealers.

"Don't worry, we aren't with those bastards. We thought it was just fruit being transported..." Kagami said, feeling like an idiot for believing that.

"I see..." That type of thing did happen a lot. "Anyway, we must head back. "

"Back where?" The blunette asked, looking at the woman.

"The city of garnet, Seirin." Kagami had a hint of recognition at the name...If he remembered right it was a small city with no leadership.

"Mind if we tag along? We have no idea where this 'city of garnet' is, and we need somewhere to stay..." Kagami scratched the back of his head, even if he didn't like asking their ex-enemy for help, he and Kuroko needed to go somewhere, and that city seemed to be the closest.

"I guess so..." She wasn't mean enough to leave people alone in these woods... Especially if these two truly weren't with those other people. "But I warn you, Seirin...isn't the best place right now..."

_'Not the best place..?'_ Kuroko wondered in confusion. But Kagami had a feeling he knew what she meant. It was worrisome, but better than staying here.

"It's fine." Nodding, the woman whistled. A moment later three horses came running towards them.

"Hyuuga, ride with Izuki." She ordered, figuring they wouldn't want to ride with a stranger. She then looked at the bluenette. "You ride with me, kiddo." She wasn't stupid enough to let the red-head and blue-haired boy ride on a horse together. For all she knew they could take off with their horse.

The two men did as instructed, but the red-head didn't like this one bit...

"Eh?! No wa-." He started to protest, but was cut off.

"It's fine, Kagami-kun." Kuroko said, confidently, making the two of them look at him weirdly. He felt like the woman was kind and wouldn't hurt them.

"Alright, let's get going." She helped the boy onto the horse and watched as the other went on his, nodding in approval when she saw he could ride one. The five headed to Seirin city.

Kagami rode alongside the brunette's horse, not wanting to be too far from the blue-haired boy if they tried something. Now that he was a magician also, people would be after him for not only his looks, but power...

"Hah...I didn't know that you could use magic..." Kagami was surprised since the boy hadn't used spells before.

"I practiced a little... when Kagami-kun was sleeping." Kuroko said, suddenly feeling bad about not telling the other.

"You're really something, you know?" Kagami grinned at the boy. Sure, he was a little disappointed at not knowing earlier, but the boy had probably been just as surprised as him. He hadn't expected such a weak looking boy to have that kind of power.

They continued on in silence towards the city of garnet.

* * *

_**Seirin City**_

They had been riding for about an hour or two, when the woman spoke.

"We are almost there." Riko announced. Sure enough, there was a huge stone gate in front of them with a few cracks in it.

As they went inside the gates, Kagami and Kuroko noticed what the woman had meant... There were so many people sitting on the streets wearing nothing but rags and looking so skinny. Men, women and children huddled together for warmth... this place was definitely in a bad position...

"There's no King here... With no one to rule over these lands, people resort to robbery among many other things. Everyone here is in danger constantly..." She explained solemnly, when she saw their faces. "We try to steal from carriages and hand out food now and then, but it's just not enough to feed everyone."

She motioned towards a stand where the other two bandits were who had chased after the man. The baskets of fruit were beside them, drug-free. Kagami looked back towards the dozens of homeless kids who were standing in the line and sighed sadly.

They rode down more streets and took turns until they came to a partially crumbled stone building. All of them slowed down and dismounted from their horses, Kagami doing the same and helping Kuroko off of his.

"This is our place." After the men tied up the horses, she moved the large piece of wood out of the way, making Kagami surprised such a petite woman could do that, but then he remembered she was a Fanalis and this was nothing compared to what she could really do... There was dust and peeling paint in the hallway. The flooring didn't look too sturdy either, but it didn't break.

"You can both stay in the room at the end of this hall until you have to leave." She started to head towards it when they heard the bluenette speak. He was standing at a door a few feet behind. They hadn't noticed he had stopped...

"Who's in there..?" Kuroko asked. There were so many dim looking Rukh surrounding the door of that room. He remembered seeing them when Kagami had slain that monster. Did it mean...someone was dying in there..?

_'How did he know someone was in there..?'_ The Seirin bandits couldn't help but wonder.

"It's our friend we mentioned..." She sighed, seeing their curiosity. Opening the door, they all walked in.

There was only one person in the room. A man with brown hair and if Kuroko were to judge, he was even taller than his red-haired friend. But that wasn't the problem...he looked deadly pale and worn out...

The two of them watched as Riko sat beside the man and stroke his hair, the others sitting around him also. He was looking worse and worse each day...

"Wh-What happened to him?" Kagami asked, disturbed at how pale and sick the man looked. The man, Hyuuga answered, seeing how Riko didn't feel up to it.

"We went to the city of Kirisaki for some rations. We thought it was a horrible idea since there were so many bad rumors about them. But...Kiyoshi refused to believe them. We don't know what they did, but while he was meeting with the leader, Hanamiya Makoto." There was disgust in his voice. Kagami also heard rumors about them and none were good... "They did something to him...when we finally found him he could hardly move. They denied it, but we knew they did something!"

"We couldn't do anything though...we were such a small city and they outnumber us... So we had to leave it at that..." His tone was slightly defeated. "A few days later he got sicker and sicker and within a week he went into a deep sleep. He's been like this ever since...but its' getting worse and no medicine is helping."

All of the others in the room stayed silent, glaring at the floor remembering that day, and wishing they had stopped their friend from going to the meeting. Kagami felt bad for them. They were truly down on luck... the whole city was.

As he stared at the pale man in front of him, Kuroko couldn't help but feel he had to do something... He didn't know what 'sickness' was, but the Rukh were getting dimmer by the second and that was bad. Remembering one of the spells they had taught him, he looked at the bandits.

"May I...try something?" The occupants in the room looked at the boy who had spoken. Riko looked suspicious, but nodded. They were out of options... nothing could make it worse.

Kuroko looked at the faint-looking Rukh that were around the man.

_'Ogiwara-kun said that Rukh were the basic form of life... So...'_ Closing his eyes, he put his hand on the mans head and focused.

Kagami and the five others watched in disbelief as the boy started to glow. Shortly after the body he was touching also started to illuminate, it got brighter and brighter, making them close their eyes. Until a moment later the light died down and they opened their eyes.

Kuroko was still sitting there with his eyes closed, looking a little tired and hand on the forehead of the man. But...the man was much tanner than before and all the weariness was miraculously gone...

_'How..?'_ What had the boy done? But what happened next made all the Seirin members jump.

"Mm..." The man mumbled sleepily, eyes flickering open for a second before closing again. Loud snores filling the room coming from the man who had been on death's door only a moment ago.

_'No way...' _They hadn't heard their friend speak in so long...for weeks...

"K-Kiyoshi..?" She couldn't believe it...he had been asleep for weeks and now not only had he was he sleeping soundly, but his eyes had opened briefly. Even if he hadn't woken completely, she could tell that he was going to be okay now. All because of this boy...

The rest of the bandits looked just as relieved as she did. They couldn't believe a kid could do something this amazing.

"Thank you...Thank you so much..." Riko sobbed, hugging the boy who had healed their friend, surprising him with the affectionate gesture.

Kagami looked on, even more amazed than the others. The bluenette that had previously been nothing more than a brave kid with amnesia was powerful enough to heal someone who had almost died. His amazement disappeared when said boy spoke up.

"O-Ow..." The bluenette whispered, making Kagami move forward and save the boy from the ridiculously strong woman who had accidentally used her strength while hugging the boy. With Kuroko in his arms, he glared at the woman for hurting his friend.

"Oh, sorry..." She hadn't realized... she had just been so happy! Riko looked at the people in front of her. A few hours ago they were fighting and now...not only had the boy saved their friend, but she has seen the look in the tall teens face when they arrived in the city.

As she watched the rest of her group thank the bluenette with smiles on their faces, while the red-haired teen tried to fend them off, she couldn't help but feel that these two would make a difference here...

* * *

**Seirin City: Nighttime**

Kagami sighed and looked at the small lump on the other bed in the room. The bluenette was covered in the sheets with his back towards him. The blue-haired boy had been tired after healing the brown-haired man, and Kagami didn't blame him. But, the red-head couldn't fall asleep after what he saw today... First finding out that said boy was a magician...and then seeing all of those poor kids...

"Are you okay, Kagami-kun?" Kuroko saw that the teen hadn't fallen asleep. The red-head jumped, not realizing the boy had still been awake. Turning back towards him, he saw the bluenette was staring at him, questioningly.

"Just thinking..." The mumbled, sitting up, not feeling up to pretend to be asleep.

"Please, tell me Kagami-kun." He heard the worry in his voice, so he tried to make it disappear.

"Hah..? I'm fine..!" He tried to sound and grin like normal, but the bluenette didn't look convinced, so he confessed...

"It's just..sad. All of those kids back there..." Kagami glared at the ground, remembering the starving people with no home or family...

_'Like I used to be... Like _he _used to be...'_ He wished he could do something about it...

Kuroko stared over at the red-head and went to his bed. The Rukh around him were glowing so brightly, sure they were always made of light, but...this was different... It made the bluenette feel something, that determined look on his friends face and he knew what Ogiwara had meant...

"Kagami-kun..." At the serious tone, the red-haired teen looked over. Kuroko immediately summoned the scepter and gathered as much Rukh as possible while he had Kagami's attention. He didn't know why but the Rukh said that it would prove something.

_'To gather that many Rukh...could it be..?'_

"Y-You're a Magi..?" The red-head stared at him in disbelief. He thought the boy was simply a magician...but no magician had enough power to do that much, and so easily...

_'Magi...' _The word sounded familiar... He didn't completely know what it meant, but he knew that he was a Magi...and his job was to...

"Yes." Kuroko said. "I want to be...Kagami-kun's Magi." He didn't know why, but being with the red-head just felt right.

"Hah..? Why me?" He was genuinely confused.

"Kagami-kun has a kind heart." Kagami blushed at the embarrassing compliment. "You went out of your way to help people..." Kuroko remembered the words Riko had used.

_'Someone who could help...a King...if it's Kagami-kun, then...'_

"I'll make Kagami-kun the best. Kagami-kun may not believe it, but I think you're very bright...You'd make a great King." Kuroko smiled up at him, making Kagami blush.

He was dazed for a little, before realizing just what this all meant...Magi's were rare beings who chose future Kings. And if Kuroko was what he really said...then he was King material..?

Kagami didn't know what to say...Sure he wanted things in this place to change...But why did the bluenette think that someone like himself would be able to do it? He wasn't sure if he was the right one to be King. It was a huge responsibility to care for a whole kingdom.

"What if...you're wrong about me..?" He really wasn't sure about this.

"I'll still follow Kagami-kun." Came the determined promise. Kagami looked into the others blue eyes, seeing nothing but faith and trust in them. "I'll always be Kagami-kun's Magi."

_'He really believes that I'll be a good King..?'_ Kagami couldn't help but chuckle.

Kuroko looked at the red-head and pouted. Why was he laughing..? He meant everything he had said and the other was making fun of him...

"Alright Kuroko, you have a deal!" He grinned down at the boy. "We will save all these people!" Kuroko nodded in agreement and smiled brightly.

They would fix this city, together.

* * *

**A/N 3:** I'm making the Fanalis people have birthmarks rather than the red hair trait from the Magi anime. =)


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Thank for all of the reviews! Reazthie, Puncakegoddess, clarit, Killua17, and Rika Tone! :D And sorry for the late chapter, been busy with school since break ended =(

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or Magi**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

* * *

_**Seirin City **_

Feeling the sun on his face, red eyes opened and squinted at the intensity of the rays. He was about to roll over and go back to sleep when he felt something beside him on the bed. Pulling back the covers he saw the familiar pale blue locks of Kuroko's and jumped back in surprise.

_'Why is he here?!' _Why wasn't he in his own bed?! Kagami was starting to panic before he remembered what happened last night.

_'Oh yeah...'_ Last night he had found out that this boy was a Magi, one that chose him as the next King no less. And he had agreed... He sighed and sat up straighter.

As he looked at Kuroko's sleeping face, he wondered how he could have so much power and still seem so innocent. Usually those with power would abuse them and use it for evil. However, after seeing how he could control the Rukh like that, he had no doubt that he could've wounded the woman when she charged at him the other day. Yet he went out of the way to restrain her.

"Heeeh, you two are pretty close, huh?" Kagami turned around at the voice and came face to face with a grinning Riko.

"What the hell are you doing in here?!" He scowled at the woman, but it was less effective because of the blush he had at being caught staring at the bluenette while he slept.

"Calm down. I just came to invite you both to breakfast." She said, frowning at the red-head before grinning. "Unless you'd like to continue staring at him again..."

"F-Fine! We'll be there in a sec." Kagami blushed and Riko was satisfied that she had made him embarrassed.

"I'll be waiting outside." She said, leaving and closing the door.

"Wake up, Kuroko." Kagami said, lightly shaking the boy. After a few moments he stirred and sat up.

"Ah, good morning Kagami-kun." He yawned and rubbed his eyes. Kagami had to hold in his laugh at the sight of the bluenette's horrible bed head. Seriously, even after seeing it the past few days, he still didn't know how he managed to get it so messy.

"Morning." Kagami said, trying to discretely pat down and tame the boy's bed head. "Come on, breakfast is ready."

Kuroko nodded and got out of the bed. They both left the room and followed Riko to the kitchen, where the other bandits were eating, a basket of fruit was in the middle of the table. There wasn't much in the room besides a worn out looking stove in the corner and a small refrigerator.

"We only have some leftover fruit from last night, so help yourself." Kagami did just that, although he was slightly disappointed that there wasn't any meat. Kuroko got some as well, but noticeably less than the red-head.

"We haven't been properly introduced. I'm Aida Riko." The Fanalis woman said.

"Hyuuga Junpei." They already knew the man's last name from when the woman had called out to him last night, but they now knew his first.

"Koganei Shinji." The man with a cat-like mouth smiled at the two.

"Izuki Shun." The man with pale skin and black-hair spoke. Kuroko and Kagami looked at the last guy with who had similar features, but longer hair and thicker eyebrows. "He's Mitobe Rinnosuke."

"He doesn't talk." Riko offered when they both had confused looks. Accepting the answer, they introduced themselves.

"Kagami Taiga." The red-haired teen said through a mouthful of food. They winced at how much food Kagami had in his mouth...

"I'm Kuroko Tetsuya. It's a pleasure to meet you all." Kuroko bowed even though he was slightly uncomfortable being around so many people. Ever since he came to the human world he had only been around Kagami and for him to suddenly be the center of attention in a room full of other adults, was a bit overwhelming.

Hyuuga nodded in approval at how respectful the blue-haired boy was, but glared at the red-head who was currently eating his food loudly.

"Did Kiyoshi wake up, Hyuuga?" The man had slept in Kiyoshi's room in case he woke.

"Not yet, but he's looking better." He had hoped that he would've woken up, but he was content as long as he didn't get worse.

Riko felt the same. So much had changed yesterday and it was because of the chance encounter with the two boys. They had been at their wit's end and now they had a little hope. With their friend steadily getting better, they'd be able to focus more on working towards improving the situation of the city.

"So, what are both of your plans?" Riko asked the red-head.

"Well, we were kind of planning to stay in Seirin. It doesn't have to be here though..." Kagami said. He and Kuroko made a promise to help everyone here one way or another and they were both in agreement to stay.

Riko was slightly shocked that they'd really stay here and from the looks on her friends faces, they were as well. The red-head seemed like a competent swordsman and Kuroko was a magician. If they were willing to stay, she couldn't possibly let them change their minds because of a lack of residence.

"There's no need for that. You can both stay here. It's the least we can do after how you helped Kiyoshi..." Riko smiled at Kuroko, who Mitobe seemed to have taken a liking to and was trying to push more food onto the bluenette's plate, which the boy politely declined.

After they both finished their food, Kagami felt like heading out. He didn't like staying cooped up all day...

"Want to go look around, Kuroko?" He asked the bluenette, getting up from his seat.

"Ah, yes." He got up and was about to thank them for the food, when the brunette spoke up.

"I could give you both a tour." Riko offered. There wasn't much around to really see, but she could show them where the basic buildings were, and it wasn't exactly safe for newcomers to wander around alone.

"Uh..." He wasn't sure what to say. Kuroko didn't want to inconvenience her, and Kagami didn't see the need for an escort. Seeing their hesitation, Riko insisted.

"I told you the other day about the robberies. It's not safe for strangers to walk around..." She didn't want to scare them, but it seemed the bluenette and red-haired teen needed to know about this since they were about to go by themselves if she didn't.

"Alright." Kagami agreed. He couldn't deny that what the woman said was true after what they'd seen last night.

"We'll be back, remember to get the crops to hand out." She told the other members, who nodded, knowing what to do.

She led them back down the hallway they'd come from and after lifting the board again, they went outside.

The three of them walked around the town, Riko pointing out the place that she had shown them last night where they passed out food, and the relatively unpopulated marketplace, since no one traded around here much anymore because of the lack of money. Other than that, there were one or two inns and taverns.

Kagami had to agree that there really wasn't much to this place...and it made him feel even more motivated to accomplish their goal.

"Hmm...I suppose we could ride around for a bit..." She suggested, after running out of places to show. Kuroko smiled at the suggestion. He had ridden horse for the first time last night and he did enjoy it. But before they could head back to the hideout and get the horses from their post, they were interrupted when four voices called to the woman.

"Riko-san!" Turning around Kagami saw it was four kids, looking to be about thirteen or fourteen years old. The boys ran towards the brown-haired woman to greet her, but stopped when they saw the teen with her. They'd never seen him around here before...

"Who's that?" Fukuda asked, looking at the tall red-head that was standing next to the brunette.

"He's Kagami Taiga, and this..." Riko looked next to her at the place the bluenette had been. But she saw that he wasn't there. "Huh..? Where'd Kuroko-kun go, Kagami?"

"Hah..? He was here a second ago..."

"I'm here..." The voice came from behind the red-head and they saw the blue-haired boy was there, standing slightly behind Kagami. The four boys jumped, not noticing the kid there until he spoke. Recovering from her own shock, Riko continued and introduced him.

"Everyone, this is Kuroko Tetsuya." Riko lightly pushed the boy forward so they could see him better.

"This is Tsuchida Satoshi." The closest one had short black hair that was spiky and eyes that were closed. He seemed to be the oldest of the group.

"Hiroshi Fukuda" He had spikey black hair like the other boy, but a few stands fell onto his forehead.

"Kawahara Koichi." She motioned towards a boy with short shaved black hair who had a smile on his face.

"And Furihata Koki." The last boy had light brown hair and eyes, looking to be the closest to Kuroko's age.

"It's a pleasure to meet you.." Kuroko greeted, nodding politely at the four despite his nervousness.

"You all better be nice to him..okay?" She smiled sweetly at them, but by the way the Fanalis was cracking her knuckles, they knew not to disobey her. Not that they had planned to anyway. She then noticed the ball in Tsuchida's hands. "Were you all playing peachball?"

_'Peachball..?'_ The bluenette looked around, he saw a ball, but not anything relatively similar to the fruit he had tasted a few days ago. So why would Riko think they were playing with a peach..?

"No, we were going to but we decided to play catch first." Fukuda said.

"Have you played peachball before, Kuroko-kun?" The boy shook his head and the others seemed to freeze at the answer. Kagami was about to help the bluenette by explaining his amnesia, but the boys were too quick for him.

"What?! Never?!" They exclaimed in horror, making Kuroko jump at the sudden outbursts.

"Come on, Kuroko! Playwith us, we'll teach you!" Kawahara said, holding a ball and gesturing towards the area they had been playing catch at.

"Peachball is a game, Kuroko-kun. You try to throw that ball into the peach buckets up there." She motioned towards the wooden buckets that were nailed to the stone walls. "You can pass the ball to your teammate and have them shoot."

He nodded, still confused as to what the point of the game was, but understanding that the goal was to put the ball in the basket.

"Alright! Let's play!" Kawahara practically shouted.

"I'll be the score keeper!" Tsuchida said, noticing they would have uneven teams. And since he was the tallest out of them, it'd be easier for him to climb the ladder and get the ball out of the basket.

"Be on my team, Kuroko-kun?" Furihata offered. Kuroko nodded and hesitantly stepped away from the red-head, who sent him a small grin of encouragement. Furihata told the bluenette where to stand and the basic principles of the game and then went to stand at his own spot.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to send him to play with them..?" Kagami narrowed his eyes at the open space where the four boys and Kuroko were at. The bluenette seemed so rigid standing there and they hadn't even started the game yet.

"Just let them have fun." Riko said. Sometimes kids needed to play with others, and from what she's seen the boy needed some fun.

"First to five wins!" Tsuchida shouted from the side of the peachball area. He threw the ball at the teams of two. Fukuda caught it and the game began.

As Kuroko stared at the two passing and trying to shoot the ball he started to get the hang of it...well the passing part at least, he kept missing the shots and Furihata would have to re-shoot. Even if he couldn't put the ball into the basket, he had to admit it was fun helping the brown-haired boy make his shots.

But, as he and Furihata chased after the other team of boys, who were preparing to shoot, he felt a strange ache in his head and stopped mid-run. He tried to blink it away and he thought it worked, but as he closed his eyes he heard a deep voice.

* * *

_He opened them at the sound, and saw that the scenery was different from how it was a few moments ago, almost as if he were in an entirely different place. Kagami, Riko and the four boys he had been playing with were nowhere in sight._

_"God Tetsu, you suck at this!" He looked over and saw a tanned teen had shouted the words, his face was cast in shadows, but he could see the grin on his face. The teen threw the ball effortlessly into the wooden peach basket._

_"I'm sorry..." Someone said, somewhat out of breath. The voice sounded a little like his, but he couldn't see who was speaking. The tanned person sighed and went over to the basket to retrieve the ball._

_"Here try again." Kuroko saw the ball being thrown in his direction and then hands shooting it towards the baskets and missing again._

_"You're hopeless Tetsu!" A husky laugh came from the other as he reached his hand over. Kuroko could vaguely feel the same sensation that he did when Kagami patted his head. "Alright, this is how you do-."_

* * *

"Kuroko-kun! Watch out!" The bluenette snapped out of it and saw the ball was heading right towards him, startled, he accidentally gathered Rukh in front of him and the ball froze in mid-air before falling to the ground.

"Whoa! You can do magic, Kuroko-kun?!" Furihata looked at the other in amazement.

"Y-Yes, Furihata-kun." He was still confused by what he saw. He'd never met that person before and yet...it felt as if he had... Kagami noticed the boy's change in demeanor and was about to ask what was wrong, when the kids interrupted and gathered around the bluenette.

"So cool! Show us some!" The other three boys had come over and were looking at the bluenette with smiles on their faces, totally forgetting about their peachball game.

Riko watched them with a satisfied smile on her face. She knew that Kuroko would fit in nicely here. Kagami was also glad that the other was happy, but he couldn't help feeling jealous that he wasn't the cause of it...

The two of them watched as the bluenette made the Rukh visible and created small spheres of magic that floated around. The other boys loved it and would cheer him on, but after about an hour, Riko realized that it was getting a little late, so she intervened.

"Alright, it's time for us to go. Kuroko-kun needs some rest!" The bluenette sent her a grateful look. Controlling Rukh for such a long time was kind of tedious.

"Aw, but Riko-san..." They wanted to see more magic!

"No buts! And besides, it's time for the food stall to be open! So go to Mitobe now before it's all gone." The boy's eyes widened, realizing that all the good food would be taken if they didn't hurry. They gave a quick wave and started to run towards the stalls.

"Bye Kuroko-kun!" Furihata shouted behind him, running to catch up with his other friends.

"Had fun, Kuroko?" Kagami asked with a grin, ruffling the boy's hair.

"Yes." Riko watched as the boys normally expressionless face lit up a little. Even if she was glad that he was smiling, she couldn't help but wonder what happened to this boy, that made him have such a blank gaze. She noticed it when they had met the two of them, his eyes seemed like they belonged to someone who had seen a lot in life.

"We should head back and feed the horses." Riko said. It was about time to feed them, and if they were both serious about staying here, then she had to get used to including them in the daily rituals.

They were about to head back when they heard someone call out to them, making them turn around. When they did, they saw it was Koganei.

"What's wrong, Koganei?" She asked the panting man.

"D-Dungeon..!" He tried to exclaim, but he was breathing too hard from running so fast.

_'A dungeon..?' _Riko couldn't believe it. For a dungeon to appear here...she looked at the red-head and bluenette. It was too much to be a coincidence for a dungeon to show up just a day after the two arrived.

"Show us where it is, Koga." He smiled and led them to an area where almost all the people in the city were gathered. There was loud chatter as they all stared in the direction of the building that hadn't been there the other day.

"That's...a dungeon..?" Kagami stared at the huge building that was barely hidden by the thick line of trees of the forest. It had a dome-shaped roof, the body of the building was made of marble and lined with gold.

_'They are real...'_ He had heard rumors about these structures. How they are booby-trapped and have monsters inside of them, and best of all gold and treasures for any that managed to make it to the top! He'd never felt so excited in his life! This was truly a test of strength and he wanted to go...

"K-Kuroko..." The boy looked up at his friend when he heard the strain in the others voice.

"What's the matter, Kagami-kun?" He saw the other had his head turned away.

"Do you want to...go to a dungeon..?" The red-head faced the boy and revealed a huge toothy grin. For some reason...Kuroko felt he should deny the offer. He didn't know what this 'dungeon' was. But he had never seen the other so happy, so with a cautious look on his face, he hesitantly nodded...

As soon as he answered, Kagami grabbed the confused boy's hand and ran in the direction of the forest, where the dungeon was located.

"W-Wait!" Riko held a hand to her head, but they were both too far from her. She couldn't let those two clueless people go in alone. "That idiot...

She turned to Koganei. "Tell the others that we went to the dungeon, and NOT to follow us, got it?"

Koganei frowned a little, upset that he couldn't go with them, but nodded and headed to the hideout. Riko watched him leave and started heading in the direction the red-head and bluenette had ran off to.

* * *

_**Kaijo Kingdom**_

The city of amber, also known as Kaijo Kingdom, was one of the smaller Kingdom's, but just as influential as the others. Their King was none other than Kise Ryouta, a twenty year old man with blonde hair and amber-colored eyes. He wore fine white cloth with gold jewelry, including a bicep brace and an earring.

Even if he wasn't the most respectable King, he still managed to keep the Kingdom in relative order. He was one of the rulers who were chosen from family lineage and not by a Magi. Many didn't see him worthy of such a title, but since his older cousin Haizaki Shougo stepped down from the throne, he was their only King. It didn't help that Kise refused to give up his aristocratic and playboy ways...

"Kise-sama~." A woman in the room said, running a hand along the mans arm. Said man, who had been in her company for a few hours now, was getting a little annoyed by her presence.

"Ahh, sorry for this, but can you leave? We have important business to discuss." He sent her a charming smile that made the woman swoon and leave with no complaints, she couldn't possible deny that look. Once they were gone and the door shut, he sighed and dropped his charming King act.

"I'm so bored!" He shouted, making the other people in the room wince.

"Then do the paperwork that's been piling up for days..." An annoyed voice followed, belonging to none other than the King's advisor, Kasamatsu Yukio. A man with short spiky black-hair and blue eyes.

"But that's even more boring..." Kise responded childishly.

"Lord Kise...you... If you were so bored...then why did you send all of those gorgeous women away?!" Moriyama Yoshitaka, one of the King's guards, complained. He was always jealous about how the blonde could get so many girls and yet didn't seem to care. "You're so cruel!"

"Be quiet, Moriyama!" Kasamatsu was getting tired of this. It happened almost everyday!

_'Why did I accept this job..?'_ He wondered for the hundredth time since he first agreed to be the blondes advisor. Not only was the King irresponsible, but the guards were crazy and annoying as well... If he hadn't been childhood friends with the blonde, he surely would've turned him down. He was just glad that Hayakawa was still sleepi-

"Ahh! I ovel srept!" The loud voice belonged to said person, who had brown spiky hair and bushy brows.

_'God dangit...I give up...'_ He didn't have the energy to scold the other anymore for speaking his gibberish... He was saved from further annoyance, when the throne room doors opened.

"I have news from the outskirts." A man wearing a mask with black mohawk hair, Kise's intel provider named Kobori Koji, entered the throne room. He walked up to Kasamatsu and handed him the scroll that contained the news he had found out.

"A dungeon appeared nearby..." Kasamatsu informed, eyes staring at the scroll that Kobori had given him. "Who gave you this information?"

"Some villagers that live on the outskirts said that they were on their way to trade merchandise when they heard a strange noise last night. They inspected the noise and saw that a strange building had emerged in the direction of the city of garnet." He explained calmly.

"What? Why would a dungeon appear in such a run down place like that?" Kasamatsu asked. Everyone knew that dungeons only appeared when a new King candidate was found, and the chances that such a hopeless city like that gaining a King, was slim to none. But if it were true, then there'd be another Kingdom for them to keep their eyes out for.

"Wouldn't hurt to check it out. Besides, it'll give us something to do!" Kise hopped off of the throne, grinning.

"I'll get the carriage ready..." Kasamatsu said, knowing that once again the paperwork would be left unfinished...

* * *

_**Seirin City**_

Kuroko stared up at the strange purple portal that Kagami said would lead to the 'dungeon'. For some reason he felt a strange pull to enter this place, but another half of him didn't think it was such a good idea.

"Are you ready, Kuroko?" Kagami looked down at the unsure looking bluenette. "It's okay if you don't want to go..."

_'Maybe we should head back...'_ He had been excited, but he didn't want to force the other to do this.

"N-No, if Kagami-kun wants to go then I will too." Kuroko hesitantly touched the portal and it felt like something grabbed his arm, he tried to pull his arm back but it just kept dragging him in further. Seeing the bluenette struggling to take his hand out, Kagami quickly grabbed his other one and pulled.

"What the hell!" He watched as more than half of Kuroko's body was inside of the portal and pulling only seemed to make it worse! All of a sudden there was a strong tug and Kagami lost his balance, sending them both though the purple substance. He made sure to keep a firm grip on Kuroko's hand.

_'What is this..?'_ It had to be the inside of the portal, but it didn't lead to a room like he thought it would. Instead it was as if they were traveling through space and through a tunnel of lights. It felt like they were falling forever, until the lights finally disappeared and he felt like he was floating in liquid.

_'Water..?'_ Kagami hurried and swam to the surface before he could run out of breath. As he emerged from the water, he looked up and saw that they had fallen many meters from above. At least it broke their fall...if it hadn't been there then... Noticing that their hands had separated at some point during the fall, he looked around for his blue-haired friend and was starting to get worried when he saw his pale form a few feet away from him.

"Are you okay, Kuroko?" Kagami rushed over to where the boy was kneeling and coughing up water. When he reached him, he picked him up and held Kuroko up so he could make sure he was fine.

"Y-Yes, I'm fine Kagami-kun." The bluenette said, blinking his eyes to adjust them to the darkness of the cave-like area they were in. "Can you..please put me down?" He liked being able to see things from the red-head's point of view, but the fact that his feet weren't touching the ground just reminded him of how short he was...

"S-Sorry..." Kagami blushed and scratched the back of his head.

"This is the dungeon, Kagami-kun?" He looked around at the rocky structures around them.

"I've never been in one, but it must be..." This place looked nothing like Seirin so it had to be the inside of the building. There was a splash near them and they both jumped.

"You moron!" Kuroko and Kagami turned around, seeing a wet and very unhappy Riko standing there in the water. She stomped over to the red-head and hit him, not bothering to withhold her strength, making him hit the ground hard.

"Ow! What was that for?!" He yelled, holding his aching cheek where he got punched.

"Why did you come here?!" She put her hands on her hips. "Don't you know this place has traps and monsters?!"

"Yes..." Kagami didn't get what she was so mad about. "If it gets too hard, I'll make sure we leave."

"Once you enter a dungeon, you can't get out until you reach the top floor! And for you to bring a kid here is even more irresponsible!" Riko couldn't believe that someone would enter this place without even knowing that...

"Oh..." Kagami said lamely, just now realizing the position they were in. She was so tempted to hit him again, but the bluenette stood in front of him.

"Please, Riko-san. It's not Kagami-kun's fault. I agreed to come too." Riko looked at pleading blue eyes and sighed.

"Whatever...We just need to be careful, okay?" She looked around and saw that there was only one path. "Let's go this way."

Kagami and Kuroko followed her through the dark tunnels.

"Sorry for dragging you in here, Kuroko..." He had been so excited at the possibility to fight and clear the dungeon, that he had completely disregarded the fact that he didn't know much about these places.

"It's fine, Kagami-kun." The bluenette smiled at him, he was a little scared of this dark place, but as long as his friend was happy he'd go along with it.

They continued walking down the narrow path, that gradually got larger until it ended and a large cavern came into view, stalagmites and stalactites were hanging from the ceiling and ground. There was moss covering rocks that provided light. As they reached the center of the cave, they heard strange scratching noises.

"What's that sound..?" Kagami asked. Kuroko watched as the Rukh started flying away from the area.

Riko stopped walking and looked in the direction the sounds were coming from and what she saw made her freeze.

"Don't move..." Kagami raised an eyebrow and looked where she was.

There was at least a dozen giant ant-like monsters with huge pincers coming towards them. The scratching noise got louder as their legs walked towards the three.

Kagami lightly pushed Kuroko behind him and took out his sword, Riko getting into a fighting position as well. When they were close enough, the ants attacked. It was easy enough to fend them off, Kagami sliced at any that came near and Riko's powerful kicks and punches were able to crush them.

But when they were all almost dead, the remaining ones suddenly melted...

"What the..." He was about to scoff, thinking they had given up or something, but suddenly the puddles started combining together with the dead bodies of the other ants. The three watched as it grew higher and higher until it was at least ten meters tall before the it reshaped itself into an enormous thirty foot tall ant.

The monster lunged at them with its giant pincers, and they weren't able to move in time to avoid it. Kuroko quickly created a shield with the few remaining Rukh, preventing the sharp pincers from reaching them.

"G-Good job, Kuroko." Kagami said gratefully. If he hadn't done that then...He shivered at the thought.

The monster stood up straight again and Riko took this chance to attack its legs, breaking them off with her kicks. The monster fell to the ground with a loud thud, and Kagami stabbed it in the skull with his sword.

"Tch...That wasn't so hard." Kagami said with a grin on his face. Riko rolled her eyes at him and was about to lead the way again, when the bluenette spoke up.

"I-It's growing back." Kuroko said, watching as the monster's body started to piece back together until it was back to normal. Not only that, but it seemed other smaller ants had come to the others rescue and were heading towards them as well.

"You handle the big one!" Riko shouted to Kagami, who nodded and turned to the giant one. Her kicks were useless if it kept regenerating like that, hopefully his sword would do more damage... She headed towards the hoard of ants to deal with them.

"Stay back, Kuroko." He had noticed how the shield had been just enough to save them. Even if he couldn't see the Rukh, he guessed that there wasn't enough for the bluenette to cast anything more than that.

He slashed at the monster, managing to cut off its limbs and abdomen, but they grew back almost instantly. As the newly grown limbs attacked him again, he dodged out of the way and the leg crashed into the ground where he had been standing before, sending bits of rocks everywhere.

_'I'm not getting anywhere...'_ This obviously wasn't working... But there wasn't much else he could do since whenever he cut off pieces, they grew back seconds later...

The monster lunged at the red-head, but Kagami used his sword to block the pincers. But instead of pulling back like it had done before, it gripped the sword tighter between it's pincers and twisted it's head to the side, making Kagami lose his grip on the sword and sending it flying. It landed a few feet away out of the red-head's reach.

Kuroko could see that Kagami was in trouble and tried to summon some magic, but there wasn't nearly enough Rukh in this room to make a spell strong enough to stop the giant monster in front of them. The bluenette looked around, trying to think of something to save his friend, when his gaze rested on the gold bracelet.

_'Ogiwara-kun...'_ He closed his eyes and concentrated.

Kagami waited for the monster to attack. Riko was dealing with the hoard of smaller ones, and the bluenette couldn't use his magic, he knew that he was doomed. The monster was mere inches away from him when he suddenly felt an intense heat, followed by a pained shriek. Looking back at the monster he saw that it was on fire.

_'What..? Did Kuroko...' _He looked over and saw the bluenette was on the ground still panting a little.

"Took you long enough to summon me, Kuroko!" Kagami stared at the grinning teen in front of him with wide eyes. He had tinted orange hair, pointed ears and strange markings on his chest and arms.

_'A Djinn?!'_ The orange-haired Djinn went over and helped the bluenette up.

"Thank you, Ogiwara-kun." Kuroko gave the teen a small, tired smile. He felt weak for some reason.

"Thanks for the save..." Kagami mumbled as he went to pick up his sword, disappointed that he couldn't handle the monster himself.

"Haha, don't thank me. Thank Kuroko, he's the one who finally summoned me." The Djinn grinned down at the blue-haired boy.

"Wait...What..?" What did he mean by finally summoned..? Now that he thought about it, Kuroko had seemed to know the Djinn and vice versa.

"I said he could've summoned me at any time." Was this new guy hard at hearing..?

"Kuroko...you..." Kagami's eye twitched. "Why did you wait so long to help me?!"

"Ah...I forgot." The boy deadpanned, frowning a little. Kagami sighed, he couldn't stay mad at him... even though he had every reason to be! He had almost died!

"Guh...I guess it's fine. If you had used that in the beginning then it wouldn't have been as much of a challenge...Thanks for helping when you did though." He said, grumpily. Still seeing the other looked a little downcast, he reached down and ruffled his hair. At least he hadn't just let him die back there.

The bluenette smiled a little before he swayed and started to fall, the Djinn caught him before he hit the ground.

"What's wrong with him?" Kagami asked the Djinn, looking at his friend whose eyes were closed and breathing was steadily evening out.

"It takes a lot of energy to summon me... Don't worry, he's just resting to replenish the Rukh he lost." He gently placed Kuroko down and sighed dejectedly, making the red-haired teen wonder what was wrong. He looked around, noticing the lack of Rukh and knew that he couldn't stay here.

"I should be going, the longer I'm out here, the more energy is being used..." Even though Ogiwara wanted to spend more time with the bluenette, but he knew that he wouldn't be waking up anytime soon after using so much magic and then summoning him. Before he left, he glared at the red-head and shouted loudly. "You better take care of him!"

The Djinn erupted in flames and the fire went back into the bracelet that Kuroko was wearing. Kagami stared at the place where he had disappeared and frowned.

"Hey! You moron! Get over here and help!" Kagami looked over and saw that Riko was still fighting the smaller monsters and went to help her after making sure the sleeping bluenette wasn't in any danger. They finished them off and were glad that they didn't reform like the others had.

"Is he alright?" Riko had been busy fighting and hadn't heard what happened.

"Yeah, just resting." Kagami said, lifting the boy and carrying him on his back.

"How'd you manage to defeat that huge one?" Riko asked. The way it regenerated so quickly meant it was pretty strong, and for the red-head to kill it with that sword...

"Kuroko summoned a fire Djinn and he killed it." Kagami explained, not elaborating more than that. He didn't want to feel anymore indebted to that guy than he already did.

_'Ah, that explains why he's so tired...'_ Riko had met other magicians that summoned Djinn and they'd always be worn out afterwards.

"Come on, let's find a safer place." Kagami nodded in agreement. For all they knew, there could be more of those things, so they couldn't relax here. They headed to the path at the other end of the cave and proceeded further into the dungeon.

* * *

"Are you sure this is the place, Kobori? Kise asked, looking at the poor condition of the stone gates in front of him as their carriage drove inside.

"Yes, Seirin City, the city of garnet." The other member's of Kise's group stared. They heard that this place was leaderless, but the sheer number of homeless they saw as they rode by...it was worse than any of them had thought. Slowly, the carriage made its way down the dirt road until Kasamatsu saw something.

"That must be the dungeon." He pointed towards a building in the distance. It wasn't hard to figure it out, with the horrible state of the other buildings, the shiny marble one kind of stood out.

The forests surrounding the dungeon were thick, but they managed to make it to the clearing where the dungeon entrance was. The carriage stopped and they tied up the horses after detaching them from the reins.

"Aright! Ret's do this!" Hayakawa shouted, raising his arms in the air. But his excitement vanished when the blonde said his next sentence.

"You three stay here and make sure no thieves enter." Kise said to Moriyama, Hayakawa and Kobori.

"But!" Hayakawa started to protest, wanting to go inside as well, but Kasamatsu glared at him, making him stop his arguing. He definitely didn't want to spend hours trapped inside with the obnoxiously loud brown-haired man. He looked at the excited blonde.

_'One annoying person is enough...'_

"Fine..." He frowned and childishly plopped down on the stairs.

"Sorry, I promised Kasamatsu that it'd just be us two..." Kise whispered to them.

"Just be sure to get me a cute female Djinn weapon." Moriyama said seriously, making them roll their eyes.

"I'll try..." Kise said, not promising anything.

"Kobori...please keep look out." Kasamatsu said, placing his trust in the only normal one of their group, who took his job seriously. Kobori nodded, knowing what to do if they didn't return in a certain amount of time.

"Alright! Be back in a bit!" Kise jumped into the portal, the other walking in.

The blonde grinned the whole way down and when the lights disappeared, they both landed in the pool of water with a splash.

"Ahh! I'm all wet now!" Kise said, getting out of the water and trying to ring out the wetness from his clothes. He found the tunnel of light fun, but he'd never get used to the sudden drop...

"Stop whining, Kise." Kasamatsu mumbled, though he was also not pleased by the moisture.

"Be careful." Steel blue eyes narrowed and surveyed the area around them.

"Huh? What's the matter?" The black-haired teen pointed to the ground and Kise saw the problem. There were at least three sets of footsteps, by the looks of it, two adults and one small enough to be a kids.

_'Someone got here before us..?'_ Kise wondered. It wasn't unusual for people to try to make it through the dungeons to obtain the riches at the end, but they usually ended up perishing. Dungeons were not for the weak and untrained...

"We can't turn back anyway, so the only choice is to go forward." Kasamatsu said, hoping they wouldn't run into any external threats.

"Come on Kasamatsu! Stop being so serious!" Kise grinned and marched forward. "If there are more people, then it makes this more interesting!" The black-haired man sighed and followed the hyper blonde.

The straight passageway seemed to go on forever, but a few minutes later it started widening. They finally made it to the end of the corridor and saw light at the end of it, meaning they were almost to an open area. But as they got closer, they heard the sound of fighting and proceeded forward cautiously.

When they were close enough, they saw there was a giant monster in the center of the cavern, a teen and a boy were in front of it and the third person was fighting off smaller versions of it.

"Should we help them?" He asked as he watched the monster snatch the sword from the red-heads hands and bring its pincers down to attack again, he knew that they should.

"I guess we have no choice..." Kise grabbed his daggers and was about to head towards the three, when fire erupted and a Djinn appeared.

_'They have a Djinn?!'_ They stared as the fire Djinn roasted the giant monster. Who were these people..?

After the monster was destroyed they saw the Djinn talk to the red-head and then disappear. The woman who was fighting the smaller monsters yelled something and the tall teen went to her and helped. With the danger gone, Kise pocketed his daggers and was about to make their presence known, until his eyes landed on the sleeping boy.

It had been so dark until the flames appeared and he hadn't really gotten a good look at the boy, but with the place illuminated by the monster's corpse that was still being burnt from the Djinn's fire, he got a better look at him and his eyes widened in shock.

Blue hair...pale skin...sapphire earring... That Magi was...

"Kuro...kocchi..?" Kise stared at the unconscious boy.

_'There's no way this is Kurokocchi...Aominecchi never lets him out of his sight...'_ Kise also noticed how different the boy looked. He looked younger than before and his hair was shorter. It was as if he had reverted back to how he looked when he had first met him and Aomine. _'But how..?'_

"Isn't that...Aomine's Magi..?" He asked, getting a nod in response. "Why's he here?"

"I don't know." Kise said, staring intensely at the boy who was on the red-head's back.

_'Did that red-head and brunette kidnap him..?' _Those two were definitely not part of the Touou guard. So kidnapping would be the only reason the navy-haired King wouldn't be in the close vicinity of the bluenette. _'How dare they...'_

"What do you want to do?" Kasamatsu asked, seeing the blondes angered face.

"We need to get Kurokocchi away from those people..." The black-haired man nodded, and they quietly followed the three retreating forms.

* * *

**A/N 2:** Made it so Djinn's have tattoo's and pointed ears. Let me know if you'd prefer the blue skin? =)

**A/N 3: **Character ages:

Riko and the other Seirin members are 18.

Kise and the Kaijo members are 20 =)


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Thanks for all the reviews! Killua17, clarit, Reazthie, Puncakegoddess, deLovelyBones, Rika Tone, Billyberry97 and BerryBliss! :D

**A/N 2: **Let me know if this chapter was a little rushed? Had to fit so much into it... I can try to elaborate more if it is. =)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or Magi**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

* * *

_**Dungeon**_

Three figures, two walking and one being carried, continued trudging through the tunnels in their wet clothing. The reason for their soaked clothes was because a few minutes ago, an idiotic red-head had rushed into a room and triggered a trap that made the whole place flood with water, if Riko hadn't kicked a hole in the wall...they would've most likely drowned...

Riko made sure to hit the red-haired teen properly after endangering them like that...

"How close are we to the top..?" Kagami asked Riko. She obviously knew more about this place than he did.

"From the way the tunnels are changing, I'd say we are about halfway through..." She responded. As they were walking further into the dungeon, they noticed how the caves were getting more palace like.

"How long did that Djinn say he needed to rest for?" Riko asked, looking at Kuroko who had slept through nearly half of the dungeon. How he managed to do that, during all the chaos...she didn't know...

"He just said that he had to recover the Rukh he lost or something..." Kagami didn't know much about Rukh, since he wasn't a magician. But he heard that Rukh were symbols of life and since they had only recently exited the cave portion of the dungeon, where it was practically devoid of life, then Kuroko should start to recover now that they were getting closer to the top.

Riko nodded and walked on down the tunnel. They would just have to wait until he was fully rested.

"Is that light..?" Kagami asked. Riko looked where he was staring and saw that there definitely was a light source coming from further inside of the tunnel. And from the brightness of it, it wasn't created by a torch.

A few minutes later, they came to a giant door. Beside the door was a stone tablet that had strange wording on it. It was in a different language, so they couldn't read it.

"Be careful, Kagami." Riko instructed. In dungeons, everything had a use, so those words must mean something was inside of there... She just hoped it wasn't another of those ant monsters.

Kagami nodded and they cautiously walked into the room, looking around and seeing no other openings in the room for any monster to get through except the door at the other end of the room. They sighed and walked inside, but as they entered, the opening behind them slammed shut and a noise of rock scrapping against rock was heard from above. Looking in the direction, they saw that the ceiling was shaking... But before Riko could warn Kagami, the trap suddenly sent the ceiling dropping down towards them.

She quickly kicked the taller red-head before it crushed him, so he would fall out of the way and readied herself to stop the trap. Kagami looked up and had been about to complain about being kicked for no reason, however, when he saw what the woman was doing, he realized why she had done it and stopped the angry complaint from coming out.

"Go, Kagami!" Riko said, gritting her teeth because of the pressure the ceiling was putting on her. Kagami could see the flooring beneath her feet start to crack and knew that they better get to the other end of the room quickly. He had to get Kuroko to safety and then figure someway to help the Fanalis woman.

The red-head ran to the other end, and when he was away from the falling section of the ceiling, he slowed to a stop and was about to place the bluenette down and head back, but all of a sudden the flooring beneath him opened up, and reacting purely on instinct, he grabbed onto the ledge with one of his hands.

_'Wh-What?'_ He was shocked by the unexpected trap door, and the fact he had been able to stop their fall. He sighed in relief, before looking down and panicking.

Below them were dozens of spikes. He tightened his other hand on the bluenette's shirt. He tried to pull them both up, but he had only barely been able to save them, so he couldn't lift himself up from the position he was in.

_'Hand's slipping...' _Kagami thought as his fingers started to get closer and closer to the edge of the flooring where the pit had opened up. He couldn't use his other hand or else Kuroko would fall onto the spikes below. There was only one choice... He had to use the last of his strength to throw the bluenette to safety before his hand completely let go of the ground. However, his hand seemed to have another plan, and before he could create the right amount of momentum to go through with his plan, his hand completely slipped and he could feel them both falling into the pit of spikes.

_'I'm sorry, Kuroko.'_ He couldn't believe this would be the end...it was his fault they were here...and he wasn't able to protect the boy and keep their promise... He waited...and waited... and when he didn't feel the pain of being pierced through, he opened his eyes. Coming face to face with a wall, he finally noticed that they were no longer falling and became aware of a pressure on his arm.

_'How did she make it over here so fast?' _Kagami could've sworn that Riko had been on the other side of the room, dealing with the falling ceiling. But the fact that they were both still alive and a hand was on his arm, meant she had done it somehow.

"Th-Thanks Ri-" Kagami looked up and froze. The person who had a grip on his arm and saved them definitely wasn't Riko. It was a man with blonde hair and equally yellow eyes.

_'Who is he..?'_ He wondered as the man pulled the two of them up and out of the pit.

Once they were safe, Kagami quickly checked if Kuroko was fine, since he had been closer to the spikes than himself, before looking at the blonde.

"Thanks..."

"Haha! No problem!" The man replied, grinning happily and looking relieved. The red-head was about to ask what he was doing here, when he remembered his other companion who had also been in trouble moments ago.

_'Oh. Riko!'_ Kagami looked around for the brunette, and saw her standing beside a black-haired man, looking unharmed as well.

"Thank you for saving us, but who are you both?" Riko asked, after thanking the awkward looking black-haired man who had pushed her out of the way from the falling ceiling at the last second.

"I'm Ryouta!" The one who had saved Kagami spoke with a smile on his face, before pointing to the rigid looking black-haired man beside him. "And he's Yukio."

"I didn't ask for your names. Who. Are. You?" Riko wasn't in the mood for games. It's been a long day...

"J-Just travelers..." Kise held up his hands to show he meant no harm, not wanting to anger the insanely strong woman who had been able to hold up that much weight only seconds before.

"What's wrong with him..?" Kagami asked the blonde, seeing the weird way the black-haired man was acting.

"Ah...he's not good at dealing with girls..." He responded with a smile. He found it hilarious how his advisors stern attitude disappeared when a female was present...

Kasamatsu glared at Kise, but stayed silent, not trusting himself to speak without stuttering in the womans presence.

"How did you both get in here anyway?" Kagami asked, remembering they had been trapped inside of the room, but now the passage was open.

"There's a hidden switch that you're supposed to press before entering..." Kise said nonchalantly, before looking at the boy, who the red-head was holding, with pure concern on his face. "Is the kid alright?"

"Uh, yeah. He's just resting." Kagami responded, finding the genuine worry weird since the man had just met them.

For the briefest second Riko thought she saw the mans expression change when his gaze shifted from the bluenette to Kagami, but when she blinked, she saw that he had the same happy smile on his face as before.

_'Was I imagining it..?'_ She wondered. But she pushed it aside. The man had saved the red-head after all.

The five continued down the path and ended up at a fork in the path. In between each path entrance was a tablet with the same shapes that were on the one outside of the trapped room before.

"Great...which way now..?" They could tell that the brunette was getting frustrated at these maze like path's, and since they couldn't read any of those strange letters...

"You b-both came into a dungeon, w-without knowing how to read the m-messages..?" Kasamatsu asked increduously, trying to ignore how awkward he sounded.

"Well, we didn't have much of a choice..." Riko glared at Kagami, who quickly looked away to escape the accusing glare and suddenly found the wall to his right to be the most interesting thing in the world...

Kise decided to step in, so they could move on faster. He went up to the ancient writing and saw that it was a riddle this time.

_'To reach the truth, head towards where the sun rises'_ So...

"This should be the way up to the top floor." Kise said, pointing to the right after reading the inscriptions that were carved into the side of the wall.

"Finally!" The red-head shouted, stepping forward. As Kagami passed the blonde man, Riko could definitely noticed the way the mans eyes narrowed at him.

_'So I hadn't imagined it earlier...'_ But why would he be angry at Kagami? Even if the red-head was sort of loud-mouthed and annoying, a look of that much hate shouldn't be sent his way just for that...

Something had been bothering Riko all of this time... She couldn't quite place it, but something was definitely strange about these men. The Fanalis stared at the blonde haired man who had the amber colored eyes...

_'Wait...amber eyes...'_ It clicked. His eye color, and first name was the same as the King of the city of amber, Kaijo. She had seen him briefly when they went to Kaijo in order to intercept on of the carriages Kirisaki had sent about a month ago.

"You're Kise Ryouta, right?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at the man in front of her.

"Ahh, how embarrassing." Kise rubbed the back of his neck at the fact he had been recognized. Not many could tell he was the King since he's only been in power for a few months, and he was wearing civilian clothing right now.

"What are you doing here?" Riko was angry that a King who had plenty of money would try to aqcuire the treasure that was inside of here, when it was obvious their city needed it more.

"Hmm..? Just killing time from boredom!" Kise said, smiling at the angry woman.

"Don't play dumb! Why would you, a King waste your time helping us?" Riko asked, not falling for the charade.

_'A King..?'_ Kagami looked at the happy-go-lucky expression the man was wearing. This guy was a King..? _'He doesn't seem like a King...' _Kagami thought. Then again...Kagami didn't see himself as King material either, yet he had agreed to be one, as well.

"Come now, why don't we just keep going, what's it matter?" They both noticed how the mans voice was losing its playfulness.

"Not until you tell us your reasons..." Riko persisted. When she looked at the man, he saw him glance at the bluenette who Kagami was holding before looking her with a frown.

"I guess we have no choice..." He looked a little regretful, but it was quickly replaced with a glare as he made his move.

Kagami, who had his back to the man, started to turn around to ask what he was talking about, but the blonde suddenly pushed Kagami forward toward the left path, grabbing Kuroko from his grasp. Before Riko could react to what the other did to the red-head, the black-haired man kicked the brunette in the same direction as Kagami had been pushed in while she was focusing her attention on the other.

"I'm sorry, but I can't allow you both to go farther after all." He gave them a condescending stare. Looking more serious than before. "I'll be taking Kurokocchi."

_'Kurokocchi..?'_ Kagami wondered. Even if it wasn't the exact name of the boy, the similarity was too much to ignore.

But he didn't have time to dwell on the fact, he had to get his friend back! Kagami tried to go back towards the two men to reach the bluenette, but a wall of fire blocked his way.

"What'd you do?!" There was no way he could get through the wall without burning to a crisp, so he had to stay back. Riko looked behind them and saw that there was also a wall of flames there as well. They were trapped...

"Huh? Nothing. It's the trap. I was going to let you both come with us to the top and then take Kurokocchi back... but since you're just delaying us, I figured now would do as well." Riko narrowed her eyes at the man, now realizing that they had only saved them because the bluenette was in danger.

_'But why..?'_

"If you thought you could get away with doing this to Kurokocchi...then you deserve whatever happens to you." The blonde glared at them as the flames grew until they were both enveloped in fire. "Bye~."

"You bast-!" Kagami started to yell, but got cut off when he felt the fire grow and closed his eyes to block out the light and heat that the blaze emitted.

"That was easier than expected." Kise said, staring at the charred and empty spot that the bandits were previously standing, with no sympathy. They dared to kidnap Kuroko and then act like they were the ones who were evil?

"Well, considering they can't read ancient script, it was only a matter of time before they fell for a trap." Kasamatsu remarked, returning to normal now that the woman was gone. Only people with access to the tomes could understand such a complex language, and those were either Kings or other people with enough money to buy them.

"I'm more surprised that you actually understood it. Seems you're not a total idiot." He had to practically force the other to study them, and seeing how he was able to do so perfectly, his teachings must have stuck with him for once.

"You're so mean, Kasamatsu!" The blonde whined at being called an idiot.

Now that the kidnappers were gone, he looked at the boy in his arms. He had never quite looked his age before, but this was pushing it... He looked much too young to be the sixteen year old he knew before. "What happened to you, Kurokocchi..?"

_'Did those bandits change his appearance to hide him..?'_ Kasamatsu wondered.

At first he wouldn't put it past them to do that, bandits usually would go to such lengths to control a Magi. But after meeting them, he noticed the way the red-head had protected Kuroko when they ran into that trap and how they looked genuinely confused when Kise had accused them... Something about all of this didn't fit...

"Once we get out of here we can do something about it, for now let's continue." He saw the worry in the others eyes ease a little at the prospect of helping his blue-haired friend.

Kise nodded and adjusted the boy in a piggy-back style, so he would be more comfortable. "Alright! Onward!"

Kasamatsu sighed. When the blonde got serious he could really be competent...too bad it never lasted long...

_'At least I was able to enjoy the quiet for a little...' _He went to follow Kise, but stopped to stare at the blackened floor to his left, narrowing his eyes when he saw a piece of cloth was there, looking completely untouched which should be impossible when that area had been engulfed in flames.

He caught up with the blonde and decided to keep his guard up, just in case...

* * *

_'S-Smoke..?' _Red eyes snapped open when he smelled the scent.

"What the...What happened?" Kagami looked around and saw that it was just the two of them and they were in a different area than before.

"We were transported to a different area of the dungeon..." Riko muttered angrily. They had tricked them... She cursed herself for not noticing them earlier.

_'That's right... That blonde pushed us into a trap... And...'_ His eyes widened, hoping that he had imagined what he just remembered, that the man hadn't taken Kuroko from as he looked around and didn't see his blue-haired friend, he knew it hadn't been his imagination...

"They have Kuroko! We have to hurry and get back there!" He started heading towards one of the many entrances, but a strong hand restrained him from going through.

"Calm down, Kagami!" Riko shouted at the hysterical teen. "Getting lost and panicking won't save him. How will you save Kuroko-kun if you run into a trap and die?!"

The red-head stopped and thought about it, and realized that she was right. Especially after seeing the way a trap could actually kill them instead of transporting them elsewhere. And if that were to happen...then there would be no chance to save Kuroko from those men.

"Now, we have to get to the top of this dungeon..." Kagami's yell cut her off.

"Why are you thinking about treasure at a time like thi-?!" Riko hit him before he could finish to snap him out of it. She had seen how important the bluenette was to the red-head. But this wasn't the time or place to act reckless.

"Be quiet and let me finish!" When he stopped trying to get out of her grasp and just glared, she continued. "Just like we can't leave without going to the top, they can't either. So they will have to go there eventually. We just have to get there first, okay?"

"You're right..." Kagami sighed and grudgingly accepted her words. Even if she needed the treasure, she was willing to think about the bluenette rather than her main goal...she really was helpful. If the brunette hadn't followed them into this dangerous place, then things would be much worse. "Th-Thank you..."

He wasn't used to being polite like Kuroko was, but when someone did something for him he tried to show gratitude towards them.

"Let's go." She started towards a path, but turned back to the red-head. "If you ever do something like that again... I'll make it so you can't move or think of doing it, understand?"

"Y-Yeah..." Seeing the way the Fanalis woman cracked her knuckles and smiled pleasantly, Kagami knew not to make her mad again... He silently followed the brunette.

* * *

Kasamatsu sliced the last of the monsters in half with his sword and the two of them watched as it dissolved and the doorway opened at the end of the room.

"You're having all the fun, Kasamatsu." Kise complained, but inwardly he was fine with not doing the fun work, since he could hold the bluenette they had rescued.

"You could put him down for a little, Kise..." Kasamatsu muttered. The blonde had made him do all the dirty work in favor of carrying the boy, and he was getting a tad annoyed.

"Eh! No way!" Kise rejected the thought. There was no way he was going to waste the chance of holding his chibi-fied friend. Kasamatsu sighed and let the matter drop for now...

They continued on to the next room, and the black-haired man was about to say something, when he heard Kise give an excited shout.

"He's waking up!" Kise exclaimed, feeling movement coming from the boy on his back. He slowly released him and put him on the floor.

"Quiet down, moron. Why would he want to hear your loud voice right when he wakes up?" Another voice said.

_'Who..?' _Neither voice sounded like Kagami or Riko. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around. When he saw the tiled flooring and marble pillars in the room, he became confused. _'Weren't we in a cave..?'_

"Kurokocchi!" Blue eyes shifted to the direction the sound had come from and saw a blonde-haired man kneeling a few feet from him, wearing a huge smile on his face. Behind him looking exasperated was a black-haired man.

_'Kurokocchi..?'_ Kuroko tilted his head. Was that the mans name? That must be it. Remembering his manners, despite his confusion, he decided to return the mans greeting.

"Ah, it's a pleasure to meet you, Kurokocchi-san. I'm Kuroko Tetsuya." He stood and bowed to the blonde, making both Kise and Kasamatsu stare at him in disbelief.

"What are you talking about, Kurokocchi..? It's me Kise." Kise looked pleadingly at his blue haired friend, not liking this joke one bit.

_'Kise..? But he said his name was Kurokocchi...'_ Blue eyes were full of confusion.

"I don't think he's faking it, Kise..." Kasamatsu narrowed his eyes at the boy. He looked like Aomine's Magi... Why didn't he remember them..?

_'How could Kurokocchi not remember...No!'_ He refused to believe that his friend didn't remember him! There had to be some mistake!

"But you... Remember? You and Aominecchi helped me while traveling and then..." Kise trailed off, seeing no recognition in the boys blue eyes. He felt his heart drop. Not only did Kuroko look different, but his memory was gone as well..?

"I'm sorry...But, you must have me confused with someone else." Kuroko looked at the man with sad eyes. He hadn't met many people since Kagami helped him, and he definitely didn't remember seeing this man or an 'Aominecchi'. But, he felt bad for making the man have such a hurt look on his face.

_'Is this why Aominecchi cut off all ties with the other Kingdoms months ago..?'_ The navy-haired man had forbidden anyone from entering the lands of Touou for any other reasons besides food and supplies... When Kise and the other nations tried to visit months ago, they had been turned away and not wanting to start a war, they all backed down and left. Maybe it was because the man was worried for his kidnapped partner..?

That had to be it... His friend wouldn't just forget him like that! Looking back at Kuroko, he decided not to push him... he didn't like seeing that guilty look in his friends eyes...

"Haha...yeah I must have you confused with someone! Sorry!" Kise grinned at the boy apologetically. He didn't want the blue-haired boy to call him 'Kurokocchi-san' again... So he re-introduced himself. "I'm Kise Ryouta, and this guy is Kasamatsu Yukio!"

The bluenette give him a relieved smile in return, wondering why he had so many names, but glad that the misunderstanding about them meeting before now was cleared up.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kise-san, Kasamatsu-san." Kuroko smiled at the two. Kise stared, feeling such an odd sense of deja vu...

_'Even with memory loss, Kurokocchi is still Kurokocchi...'_ He returned the smile and tousled the boy's hair, missing doing this for the past few months. Yes, he had to help his friend, even if it hurt to pretend they had just met...

Kasamatsu patted Kise's shoulder, he knew how hard it was for the blonde to be forgotten by the bluenette and for him to put that aside in order to help Kuroko showed how much he's grown since they'd first met.

"Um..excuse me. I was with two of my friends before..." Kuroko asked them, noticing that the red-head and brunette were nowhere in sight.

"Uhh..." Kise looked at Kasamatsu, not knowing what to say. He didn't want to frighten the boy by telling him the ones he thought were his friends were actually kidnappers and had been disintegrated by a fire...

"They...had to leave..?" He replied lamely, not wanting to upset the boy even if the friendship was a lie. But when the bluenette's eyes dimmed a little, he knew it hadn't worked and immediately felt bad.

_'Kagami-kun...left me..?'_ Kuroko felt a strange pain go through him. Was it because he hadn't helped him enough when the monster had attacked..?

"Wh-What I meant is...they're waiting for you outside of the dungeon!" Kise said, hurriedly when he saw the pained look in the others eyes. Kasamatsu narrowed his eyes at the idiotic blonde who was digging himself deeper and deeper into a hole. What was he going to do when they reached the top and they weren't there?!

But, Kuroko however, brightened up at the mention of meeting his friends again and the fact they hadn't really abandoned him. He was about to follow the two, when he remembered something...

"I'm sorry, but I can't go with you." Kuroko frowned at the two men and backed up a little.

"Eh? Why not?" Kise asked, wondering what he did wrong that would make the bluenette suspicious of them. Well...he had to admit that the way he said the last sentence wasn't that convincing...

"Kagami-kun said not to go with strangers..." Came the unexpected and innocent sounding answer, making Kise want to hug the boy again. But he used all of his will-power not to, and responded to the boys worry.

"But we introduced ourselves, so we're not strangers, right?" Kise said, smiling innocently.

"Don't be an idiot Kise...there's no way he's going to believe tha-" Kasamatsu stopped whispering to the blonde when Kuroko spoke again.

"Ah...okay." Kise grinned mockingly at the black-haired man and grabbed Kuroko's hand before walking towards the dungeon doors. Leaving a shocked Kasamatsu behind.

_'What the..why?!'_ Sure the teenage Kuroko was somewhat oblivious sometimes, but this was a whole new level of naïvety! He sighed, and followed the two, when he realized he was going to be left behind...

* * *

"W-We're almost there..." Riko said, panting as they barely escaped the arrow trap in the other room. There were three doors in front of them. One with a dragon's head, a plain one and the last one had a symbol on it. "Great...another puzzle."

_'It must have something to do with the objects on the doors, since there are no inscriptions in the room...'_ Riko would consider the dragon one, since it seemed this was the dungeon of a fire Djinn, if the fire based traps had anything to do with it. But...it seemed too obvious... She was about to check the door, when the red-head spoke.

"We should go through...that one." Kagami said, pointing to the one with the symbol on it. He couldn't read the inscriptions, but the door in front of them had a mark that looked strangely familiar...

"You sure..?" She was skeptical about trusting the red-head who had gotten them lost on several occasions, but his face had a sure look to it this time, unlike the confused one he would have the other times. "Alright..."

Riko went up the the door with the eight pointed star on it and pushed. The room on the other side was bright, so she closed her eyes to block out the light. But when she opened them and they adjusted, her eyes widened. She and the other members of Seirin had heard that dungeons brought riches...but this was more than any of them thought there was...

The room in front of them was practically covered in gold. Piles of gold coins and gems, other artifacts like clay pots and cloths were on the ground. There was no doubt that they could feed everyone in the city with this, and more for years!

"This is the top floor?" Kagami asked, looking around in shock at all the stuff there.

"Y-Yeah..." Kagami gave her a weird look, seeing the normally scary woman practically had stars in her eyes as she looked around the room. It was definitely strange...

_'But where's Kuroko?'_ Kagami was happy and all to be able to keep their promise of helping the people of Seirin, but he didn't see the bluenette anywhere in sight. And if he had to be honest, as selfish as it may seem he'd rather Kuroko was here than the money...

The two of them were searching the room, when they heard a creaking sound and turned to the source.

The door on the other side of the room slowly opened, and Kagami was about ready to run over when he saw familiar pale blue locks, but he wasn't alone... Kagami and Riko glared at the two men who entered the room behind the bluenette. They had to save the bluenette from them...

"Kagami-ku-." Kuroko started to say, a small happy smile on his face, but the blonde who he was standing next to lightly pushed him behind him and out of the way, before taking out his daggers. He looked at him, and saw he was scowling at his two friends. When he looked over at Kagami and Riko, he saw they were doing the same.

"So the fire didn't kill you both..." Kasamatsu thought it was strange how a cloth could survive the flames and not them. And since the two were standing across from them now, unharmed, he knew his decision to keep on guard was correct. He tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword.

_'Kill them..?'_ What was he talking about? Kuroko looked between the two men and his two friends, seeing the glares they were sending each other. _'Weren't we supposed to all meet here?'_

"I'll pay you back for tricking us!" Riko said, charging at the black-haired man who had pushed her into the trap before. She aimed a kick at him, but he moved out of the way and turned to quickly bring down the sword. The brunette sprung away from the blade and using the power in her legs darted forward to punch the man. Who managed to block it with the side of his sword, but was sent skidding on the floor from the power of the punch when it made contact.

_'Why are they fighting..?' _Kuroko wondered, staring at the two as they attacked each other.

"Kurokocchi stay back." Kise ordered the bluenette, eyes narrowed at the red-head who was holding his sword. Kuroko could only watch in confusion as the other two people in the room started attacking each other as well.

Kagami swung at the blonde, who blocked the incoming attack with the two daggers and quickly deflected the blow before lunging at the teen with a quickness that Kagami hadn't expected from such a easy-going person, but then again he was a King, so he shouldn't underestimate him. He dodged the attack with only a small cut on his arm and returned the favor, seeing his blade cut into the blondes other arm.

The bluenette felt so conflicted as he watched the four people fight... Riko had cuts on her as well, and Kasamatsu was bruised in many places. They were hurting each other... He may not know much, but to see the blonde and red-head fighting...it felt wrong.

As he looked back to Kagami and Kise, he saw the blonde jump back from the red-heads sword, making it strike the ground rather than its original target. Kise just stood there after the failed attack and for a moment, the bluenette felt relief, hoping that the man decided to stop the assault. But then the blonde did something that they didn't expect.

"I think it's time to end this..." Kise said, holding one of his daggers in front of him. Red-eyes narrowed, getting a better look at the golden daggers in the others hand and seeing something engraved on the blade.

_'That's the same mark that was on the doors...'_ Kagami thought as he stared at the eight-pointed star that was glowing on the mans weapon.

The blade of the weapon started sparking and all of a sudden, several bolts of lightning shot out from the weapon, and Kagami not expecting it, yelled in pain as he was shocked by the many watts of power that had been aimed at him. When the light vanished, he fell to his knees.

"K-Kagami-kun!" Kuroko started to go over to his fallen friend, but Kise's arm blocked his path.

Riko and Kasamatsu stopped, hearing the pained yell. Kasamatsu stared at Kise with narrowed eyes, for using such a high leveled spell on someone who obviously didn't have the same kind of weapon as he did.

"You have a Metal Vessel?" Riko asked. She had seen others with those weapons, but never up close.

"Of course. Kurokocchi gave it to me years ago!" The blonde said proudly.

_'Years ago..?' _He knew Kuroko before?

"Now, I suggest you give up, or else it won't be my fault if you get burnt to a crisp. Unlike those flames in that trap, the lightning of this will hurt you..."

"Like hell I'll let you take Kuroko!" Kagami stood back up, ignoring the after effects of the lightning. Even if the man claimed to know him, there was no way he could even think of being away from the bluenette. Kise sighed, and got ready to send another, stronger version of the lightning towards that red-head.

Kuroko couldn't let this go on anymore! He couldn't watch such nice people fight each other, especially since it seemed they were arguing over him for some reason. As the blonde raised his hand in the direction of his friend, Kuroko quickly ran between them and just as the magic shot from Kise's blade, the bluenette clung to his friend.

There was a loud bang and the area the blue-haired boy and red-head were in was covered in smoke from the impact of the strong magic that came from Kise's Metal Vessel.

"K-Kurokocchi..." Kise's eyes widened in horror as he stared at the smoke covered area. He saw the boy run in front of the attack, but had been too late to stop it. He never wanted to attack the bluenette... He fell to his knees.

"You..!" Riko started towards the blonde, who had attacked her two companions. She should've finished off her opponent and helped! And now the two who had helped her and the rest of her friends were...

Kasamatsu stopped the Fanalis from attacking the blonde King. Even if he was disappointed that the man had taken it too far, he couldn't let him get hurt.

The three of them watched as the area slowly cleared, expecting to see a sad, horrible sight... But, when the smoke cleared, the three others saw that not only were they alive, they were also unharmed. Kuroko had managed to gather Rukh around them at the last second and shielded the two from the incoming magic.

_'Thank god, he's alive.' _Kise thought. He wouldn't have been able to live with himself if he hurt one of his best friends...

"Please, Kise-kun, Kasamatsu-san. Kagami-kun and Riko-san are my friends." Kuroko said, standing beside Kagami.

"What did you both do to Kurokocchi?!" Kise glared at the red-head and brunette. Not only did he not remember him or even Aomine, but now he was defending them?!

"Hah? What are you talking about?" Kagami returned the glare. "You're the ones who tried to kidnap him!"

"No way! You're the kidnappers!" Kise couldn't believe this! "You dare to steal my friends Magi and try to get away with it?!"

_'Magi..?'_ Riko thought, surprised. She thought Kuroko was a magician... But if he's a Magi...and the dungeon appeared... She glanced between the bluenette and red-head.

"I think there's a misunderstanding..." Riko sighed and straightened from her fighting stance. Seeing that his opponent was no longer fighting, Kasamatsu did so as well. But Kagami and Kise seemed intent on settling this.

"There is no misunderstanding. Kurokocchi is Aominecchi's Magi."

"If that were true, then why did this dungeon appear?" Riko said, calmly. Kise froze at her words.

Dungeons did only appear when new candidates were chosen, and the fact that Kuroko was here and seemed attached to the red-head... it kind of reminded the blonde of how it had been with the bluenette and Aomine... But it couldn't be! Magi's can't form new contracts with other people...

"M-Maybe you two did something!" Kise didn't want to believe the words these people were saying... But, everything was so wrong. Kuroko's change in appearance, memory loss, and making a new Magi pact with someone when it should be impossible to.

"Enough." A loud but kind voice sounded, echoing across the room. The two groups looked over and saw the symbol that was engraved on the ceiling start to glow. There was a flash and a figure appeared in front of them.

The person that appeared was huge...at least a few meters tall and had faint tattoos covering its skin that wasn't covered up.

_'W-who?'_ The three wondered, but Kise and Kasamatsu knew what was going on and simply stared at the person who appeared, unfazed.

"I'm Takeda Kenji, the master of this dungeon." The man replied, staring at the people below.

"Wh-What?!" Kagami stared up at the giant old man in front of him. He had never seen a Djinn this big before.

"Now, who's the dungeon capturer?" The Djinn looked down at the five people who were in the room. When they all sent him confused or blank looks, he decided to find out himself.

"Hmm...you're already a King." The Djinn muttered when his eyes landed on the blonde. He then shifted his gaze to Riko. "You're strong, but you don't seem to have the want for being royalty."

"That leaves..." He looked at the blue-haired boy who was standing near the red-haired teen. "Ah, you're the Magi."

"So is this the King you choose?" The man smiled down kindly at the boy and red-head, seeing how the Rukh between them glowed brighter than the other occupants in the room.

"Ah, yes." Kuroko said, snapping out of his shock of seeing the giant, when he saw that the man was speaking to him.

"Kurokocchi! You can't-." Kise started but Kasamatsu stopped him and shook his head. A Djinn wouldn't make a mistake like this, so something must have happened between the pact Kuroko and Aomine made.

_'But what caused it to change..?'_ The world wasn't too sure about the true nature of Magi's and Djinn's. Humans and the other two were different beings, so they didn't share much information with each other.

"Since you are the capturer of this dungeon, you may obtain some of the fire element powers I have." The Djinn continued after the interruption and floated over to the piles of gold, waving in the general direction. "You can pick any weapon you want to be your Metal Vessel."

_'Metal Vessel...' _Kagami looked over at Kise, remembering how he had been able to produce lightning from his daggers. He looked at the swords that had gems lining the hilts and expertly crafted blades, and shook his head.

"Uh, just do this one." Kagami said, holding out his own sword. He didn't need fancy swords like the ones in the piles...

"You're sure you want it on that weapon..?" Riko asked, Djinn attributes could be put on practically anything, and for the red-head to choose such a used sword like that...

"Yeah...I'm sure..." Kuroko frowed when he saw something behind the red-heads eyes as he stared at the sword. Something sad...

_'Besides, I can't see myself using such elegant weapons, like that blonde...'_

"Alright." Takeda held his hand out over the sword and they all watched as it glowed bright, before the light dulled. When the weapon was visible again the same symbol from the doors and Kuroko's bracelet, was on the base of the blade of Kagami's sword.

Kagami stared at the sword in confusion. Even though it had the symbol and supposedly the power of the Djinn, it didn't feel any different...

"Now, before I leave. All of this treasure is yours to do anything you want with it." The Djinn waved his arm and all fo the gold and objects in the room came together before being wrapped in some of the silk bags that were laying on the ground.

"Step through here to return to your previous location." The Djinn explained, a similar portal to the purple one they had stepped in to enter the dungeon appeared behind them.

"Good luck to the both of you, little Magi, and his King." The Djinn gave Kuroko a smile before disappearing, leaving the others in the room to stare at the empty spot he had been at. There were so many questions Kuroko wanted to ask the Djinn... like what a Magi really was...and what he had seen earlier...

_'So, he's really a King canidate..?'_ Kise wondered. How this could all be happening and why had the bluenette changed so much in just a few months..?

"Now, who are you both?" Kagami started, turning his attention back to the men who took Kuroko from him. Kise opened his mouth to answer, but almost as soon as he did, the ground began to shake and the walls of the dungeon started to crack and collapse.

"Wh-What's happening?!" Riko shouted over the loud sound of stone crashing on tiles. When Kagami saw a piece of ceiling above them start to fall, he picked the bluenette up and dodged the falling stone.

"The dungeon's collapsing. It h-happens every time one is c-captured..." Kasamatsu stuttered. Without the distraction of battling, his nervousness returned...

"We should leave." Kagami said, looking at the crumbling structures. Kuroko nodded and the five of them headed for the portal. Kise glared at Kagami as they stood next to each other in front of it, but knowing that they couldn't continue their discussion here, they made a silent truce until they were out of the dungeon, and Kise and Kasamatsu stepped through the portal together first. Riko, being the only one of the three strong enough to carry the mountain of gold in the sacks, quickly grabbed it and they went into the portal after the two.

There was a similar sensation of being pulled into the portal, before they came out on the other side, seeing the vast space and light tunnel they had before. Except this time they were traveling along on a platform of light as well. Above them was another platform, which they assumed the blonde and black-haired man were on.

Everything was over...They made it out of the dungeon alive and not only that, but with the means of being one step closer to their goal. The three of them collapsed and sat down to finally relax.

"Are you hurt, Kagami-kun?" Kuroko asked, remembering the fight from before. He gently touched the red-heads arm and saw him wince.

"I-It's nothing..." Kagami didn't want to seem weak in front of the bluenette. Kuroko stared at him skeptically.

"Wh-What?" Kagami asked, looking down at the boy when he felt the bluenette gently grab his arm. But when he saw the marks on his arm start to heal, he realized what he was doing. The way the Rukh were made visible and floated around him made Kuroko look so ethereal... so unreal... Kagami couldn't look away from the sight.

_'Wh-What is this feeling..?' _He wondered, looking at the way the bluenette's pale skin was illuminated by the Rukh and how blue eyelashes covered his half-lidded eyes as he concentrated on healing Kagami.

"Does it feel better?" Kuroko wasn't entirely sure about his healing abilities, but he tried to do what he had done to Riko's friend last night.

"Y-Yeah.." Kagami said, snapping out of his trance when the boy spoke and blushed when he realized what he'd been thinking. His eyes landed on the bags of treasure near Riko and he changed the subject.

"I-Isn't this great, Kuroko? We can use all of this to get this town back on its feet!" Kuroko looked at Kagami with a smile on his face.

"Yes, Kagami-kun." He smiled at the red-head and Kagami ruffled the boy's hair. He had been so worried when the bluenette had been separated, but seeing that he wasn't hurt made him wonder why the men were so intent on getting him, and how they knew him... He'd worry about that later...for now he was content with having his friend back with him.

Riko regarded the two. They really believed in saving Seirin... The selflessness they showed when presented with so many riches and chose to use it on the city she loved so much. Sure, she noticed the determined gazes they had when they both first arrived and saw the desperate state the city was in, but for them to go this far for them... She was astounded.

The bluenette was not only a Magi, but he was one that did all he could to protect the ones he cared for, and even if the red-head was loud and obnoxious... he definitely had good qualities about him.

As they traveled back to Seirin, though the light of tunnels, she stared at them, and looking at their faces and interactions with each other, she knew that they would be able to make a difference...

* * *

**A/N 3:** In the character bible it says Kasamatsu gets nervous around girls...so cute XD

**A/N 4: **I ran out of people... So I made the club advisor of Seirin the Djinn...XDD Laughed so much picturing that shaky man from the anime being the Djinn... But in Magi it was an old guy with a beard who gave the main character his power...so...


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Holy cow, it's been like 2 weeks since I updated this! o.o Didn't seem that long...I'm so sorry! Been so busy with school and other fanfics Dx -hangs head in shame-

**A/N 2: **Thanks for all of the reviews! Guest, deLovelyBones, Puncakegoddess, Killua17, TunaForDesert, Reazthie, Rika Tone, 2nd Guest, maybe143, WolfPacFaan, and Anon! :D Again, sorry for the long update! D:

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or Magi**

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**Chapter 5**

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_**Outside of the Dungeon**_

The sky was now a dark orange as the sun made its way down, and the group of people currently sitting on the steps that led to the dungeon that had appeared in Seirin, were getting tired as they waited for their companions to exit.

"I'm so bored!" Hayakawa shouted, voice echoing through the dense patch of forest around them. It had been hours since their blonde King and his advisor left them and the brown-haired man's patience was wearing thin. "It's no fair! I wanna to do something too, not just sit here!"

"Be patient Hayakawa, they said to wait here until they come back." Kobori said calmly. But he too was starting to get restless and worried. Usually it didn't take the two this long to clear a dungeon, and he was starting to think that something must have gone wrong. However, he knew the procedure and that Kasamatsu would punish them if they went against it. "If they aren't back within the hour, we will go inside and assist them."

"They're probably just keeping the Djinn for themselves..." Moriyama muttered, glaring at the portal.

"Don't be ridiculous, Kise already has one." They all knew that the blonde wouldn't accept another one, especially since one of his favorite obsessions had given it to him.

"You never know what people will do when a woman is present." Moriyama said, a hand placed on his chin. "I for one, would have-."

"We know what you would've done, Moriyama..." Kobori sighed. This was exactly the reason he would always volunteer to go on missions. He didn't know how Kasamatsu handled everyone...

Seeing that the man wasn't going to budge and let them enter early, Moriyama and Hayakawa frowned and grudgingly sat back down in their previous positions. But, not even a minute later...

"Ugh! I can't wait an houl! I'm gonnna go now!" Hayakawa shouted, getting up from his spot on the stairs.

Kobori was about to stop the short-tempered man, but before he could act upon his words, the purple portal began to pulse sporadically until it glowed a bright white and out stepped their two friends.

The blonde immediately began walking down the steps, Kasamatsu following behind him.

"Ah! Took you long enough Ki-." Hayakawa stopped when he looked at the blonde.

"Do you have my female Djinn?!" Moriyama shouted, standing up and giving the two a hopeful look. He hadn't known what could have stopped the obnoxious man from his complaint, but now that he was closer, he knew...

Their usually happy-go-lucky King had such a serious look on his face. One he only wore when something bad happened...

"What's the matter with Kise..?" Kobori asked Kasamatsu, who just sighed wearily and followed the blonde away from the portal.

The three immediately began to worry. Usually at least Kasamatsu would fill them in on things, even if it was something bad. But...for him to act this way...

_'What could have happened..?' _Kobori's gray eyes narrowed, and stared at the portal in suspicion. There could only be one reason for their actions. They found something that they didn't expect in there.

He didn't have to wait long, because a moment later the portal began to flicker again before emitting the same radiate light as it had when the two exited. When the light disappeared, the entire dungeon building did as well. They all re-opened their eyes and stared at the three people in front of them.

There was a brunette woman, wearing customary bandit clothing in the front, behind her was a giant sack of what must have been the treasures from the dungeon. To her right there was a tall dark red-haired teen, who had a standard sleeveless red shirt and dark, baggy Moroccan pants. And the shortest of the three who was next to the red-head...

"Kuroko..?" The bluenette turned in their direction at the mention of his name, and when he didn't recognize the people, he tilted his head at them in confusion.

But, to the three that didn't matter just now. The fact that the blue-haired boy had responded to the name proved he was who they thought he was, which only increased their worry. If he was here...then...

They all looked around for the scary-looking navy-haired King and sighed in relief when they didn't see him anywhere.

"What's he doing here?" Hayakawa whispered to Moriyama, when they were sure the coast was clear. The man shrugged in response and looked towards Kise, who by now had turned to look at them all.

"That's what we need to find out." Kise said, giving the brunette and red-head skeptical looks.

Hayakawa, Moriyama and Kobori were shocked. If it truly was Kuroko, then why wasn't the blonde over there and hugging the life out of him like usual?

"Do you know these people, Kuroko?" Riko asked. They waited to hear that voice give an affirmative answer, so they could reassure themselves that this matter wasn't as serious as they felt it was.

"I'm sorry, I don't..." The bluenette frowned, and instantly felt bad when he saw the crest-fallen looks on their faces.

They couldn't believe the boy didn't remember them. Sure, he spent more time with Kise when he visited Kaijo, but still they were sure they weren't that forgettable...

"Does the name Aomine sound familiar, Kuroko?" Kasamatsu asked, looking at the boy who was currently tending to the brunette's injuries she sustained from her battle with the man who was speaking.

_'Aomine..?'_ Kuroko didn't know anyone with that name...So he shook his head, the man sighed.

"That means either this isn't the Kuroko we know, or he somehow got amnesia and Aomine doesn't know that he's here..." They were the only plausible explanations. They had to omit the first one because of how the similarities between the blue-haired teen they knew and this boy were too great to ignore. But if the second were true...

"Ahh! Aomine's going to kirr us!" Hayakawa yelled, panicking at the black-haired mans words.

"He's definitely going to kill us..." Kobori agreed.

"Doomed... We are doomed..." Moriyama mumbled, knowing the tanned mans temper when it came to his Magi.

Kuroko, Riko and Kagami looked at the group with weird looks, wondering why they were acting this way all of a sudden. Was this Aomine really that bad..? Riko looked at the black-haired man, whose eye was twitching in annoyance.

"Calm down!" Kasamatsu shouted.

_'How can we calm down?!'_ Didn't he know what this meant?!

"Idiots..." He grumbled when he saw the astounded looks on their faces at his command. Since they didn't realize it, he'd have to remind them...

"The fact that Aomine hasn't done anything yet over this matter, means he obviously doesn't know about this..." He and Kise had talked about it on the transfer back from the dungeon, but there were still holes in the story. "Though, how he wouldn't realize it is still unclear..."

"Come on, Kasamatsu! It's obvious that they are thieves and must have done something to Aominecchi and Kurokocchi!" Kise yelled. It had to be. The amnesia, and the way his tanned friend cut off contact, it only came to this! Glaring at the red-head, he pulled out his Djinn dagger again and pointed it at the red-haired teen before speaking in a serious voice. "And if they won't tell us the truth, then we just have to make them..."

Kagami, recovering from all the previous chatter, saw that the blonde was dead serious about finishing this. And to be honest, he was too. They dared to take his friend from him and then accuse them of all such of things. It seemed fighting was the only way to get these crazy people away from them.

"I'd like to see you try, you bastard." He glared at the man and took out his newly made Djinn sword. He didn't know how to use it yet, but if that blonde could, then he wasn't going to lose!

Things were escalating far too quickly... And everyone else in the area could see that if the two fought right now, it'd only make things worse. Even the amnesiac bluenette realized this...

"Wait, Kagami-kun." Kuroko said, trying to stop the red-head and blonde from fighting again.

"I'm sorry, Kuroko. But this guy needs to leave us alone." Kagami got in a fighting position, Kise doing the same. Barely a moment later, they charged at each other, ready to end the others game of charades.

But as they were mere feet from each other, the ground between them started to crumble, making them jump back.

"Both of you, stop!" The red-head and blonde looked to the source of the loud and commanding voices that interrupted them. Turning around, they saw the brown-haired Fanalis, who must have been the cause of the mini earthquake because she was standing there with her foot in the ground, and the black-haired advisor were glaring at them.

"Are you both idiots?" Riko asked. They just gave her blank and confused looks. With a sigh, she continued. "What do you think would happen if you both fought here?"

Even blanker looks...

"Think about it...lightning, plus flammable trees equals..?" Kasamatsu tried to explain. Kise's eyes widened in realization.

"And you don't even know how to control that thing yet! Fire is also way worse to use in a forest!" Riko accused.

"Oh...true..." Kagami mumbled. Red and amber eyes met, glaring one last time before they both lowered their weapons, agreeing.

"Let's take this somewhere else!" They shouted at the same time.

"That's not what I meant, idiot!" Riko and Kasamatsu both hit their respective morons. They briefly glanced at each other, silently admiring the others handling of their idiotic companions. But, when the red-head and blonde groaned in pain, they turned their attention back to the problem at hand.

"Ow, Kasamatsu..." Kise rubbed his back, wincing a little at the kick he received. His friend used to do it all the time when they were little, but since he became King he only did it when necessary. So he wasn't used to it as much as he used to be...

"Y-You hit too hard, Riko..." Kagami grumbled, holding his aching stomach where the Fanalis punched him.

"Are you okay, Kagami-kun?" Kuroko asked, eyes full of worry. He went to his friend and helped him stand up.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine, Kuroko." He stood slowly. The boy couldn't possibly lift his weight, but he didn't want to make him feel bad... so he raised a little at a time and acted like the bluenette did all the work.

"Wh-What about me, Kurokocchi?" Kise asked, pouting a little at the lack of attention.

"Ah, I'm sorry Kise-san." The bluenette went to check on the blonde, a little reluctantly since the blonde had attacked his friend before. He set on healing the surprised blonde, who hadn't been expecting the help.

The Kaijo members were definitely weirder out now... The Kuroko they knew would say how it was 'Kise-kun's fault and he should take responsibility for his actions', but he was actually healing him...

They fell silent and watched as the bluenette focused the Rukh and healed as much of everyones wounds as he could, before feeling too exhausted.

"We should discuss this somewhere else." Riko said. Even if this forest was pretty vacant, it'd be nighttime soon and she knew first hand what things liked to roam around this place at night. "We can go back to our hideout and get all of this cleared up."

Kasamatsu and Kise gave her suspicious looks at the invitation, while Kagami looked at her as if she had two heads.

It wasn't recommended for a King to trust bandits, but seeing how this matter wasn't about to get settled anytime soon, and he didn't want to leave his blue-haired friend alone with these people. He'd take the chance.

But if they tried something... The five Kaijo's gave each other a look, thinking the same thing.

"Alright, let's go."

* * *

_**Seirin Hideout**_

The eight had arrived at the sad-looking hideout close to an hour ago.

When the three familiar figures got to the door, Hyuuga and the others came to greet them and make sure they were alright. Koganei had told them about Riko, Kagami's and Kuroko's departure to the dungeon and despite their wish to help them Hyuuga knew that if their brunette leader said something, they should follow it. Or else...

They had seen a carriage go past earlier and got a glimpse of the people inside, so they kind of recognized the new people there. However, they didn't expect the huge sack of gold that the brunette had brought in! When they saw it, Koganei had been so excited and went to open it immediately, but Riko stopped him and told the teen that there were other matters to discuss before dealing with the rebuilding and trading of the treasure.

They went straight to the biggest room that could accommodate them all and sat. Mitobe, handing out fruit since they hadn't eaten in many hours.

Once comfortable and seated, Kagami had explained his meeting with Kuroko. Saving him from the slave traders, taking him with him on his traveling, leaving out the eat and run incident. He didn't want to get that strict black-haired man angry after seeing how he treated a King. After a few minutes, he eventually came to the parts that happened recently.

"And then we came here and Kuroko and I made a contract." Kagami finished explaining his side of the story.

"Is that true, Kurokocchi?" Kise asked. It didn't seem like he was lying...and if he was truth, it made sense for how he managed to get the bluenette without running into Aomine.

Kuroko, who was sitting beside the red-head and nibbling on some grapes, nodded in confirmation before answering.

"Yes, Kagami-kun saved me." He smiled up at his friend, making Kagami blush and ruffle his hair.

Kise puffed his cheeks at the action, seeing a stranger pat the bluenette's hair when he couldn't, made him jealous... But, he had to admit that he was relieved that the red-head hadn't treated his best... previously best friend, poorly. Now that he saw the two interact with each other, it was more obvious that his advisor and the brunette were right about the whole misunderstanding thing.

"So, that's how it is..." Kasamatsu muttered. It didn't explain how the situation originated, but at least they now knew that the people here were not at fault.

"Sorry for attacking you, Kagamicchi..." Kise smiled and rubbed the back of his head. Now that he knew everything the red-haired teen had done for Kuroko, he was embarrassed about all he did and said before.

_'Kagamicchi..?'_ The red-head raised a brow at the mans sudden change of attitude towards him.

"I guess it's fine..." Kagami said, returning to his food.

Now that the atmosphere wasn't as tense, the other occupants in the room decided to speak up.

"So... who are these people?" Hyuuga asked, raising a brow at the people who were taking up so much space in their already tiny kitchen.

"This is King Kise of Kaijo and the members of his guard." Riko explained to her friend.

_'A King?!'_ They looked skeptically at the blonde, who grinned and waved at them. Yep...they didn't see how he could be one... And if they remembered right, didn't the King of Kaijo have gray hair..? Mitobe and Izuki looked slightly wary of the new people, but Hyuuga wasn't fazed about the new found information.

"You don't seem like a King." Hyuuga said bluntly. He didn't care if they were some hot-shots. As long as they are here, they are just people who are relying on their hospitality.

"We could say the same about you all. You don't seem like the types who would attack and steal from other people." Kobori commented, looking at the five of them critically.

"We only take what we need to feed our people." Hyuuga glared back at the man. He didn't like how he was accusing them without knowing anything about what and why they did it.

_'Awkward...'_ Izuki smiled nervously at the powerful glares the two were sending each other.

"Haha, anywaaay... I'm Kise Ryouta!" The blonde introduced himself, trying to break the intense air. "This is my advisor Kasamatsu." He pointed to the black-haired man who was only able to keep up his calm look because he was was sitting on the furthest side of the table from Riko as possible.

"My informant Kobori Koji." He nodded in the direction of the man who was involved in the staring contest with Hyuuga.

"One of my guards, Hayakawa Mitsuhiro." Kise motioned towards the brown-haired man with the thick eyebrows.

"It's good to meet such blave and variant peopre!" Hayakawa was impressed by what they were doing!

_'Blave..Variant..Peopre..?'_ Kuroko didn't know what the words meant so he looked towards his red-haired friend for an explanation, but when he did he saw the confusion on his face as well, so he didn't ask.

"And this is-." Kise got cut off when the man stood and introduced himself.

"I'm Moriyama Yoshitaka." The man with short black-hair said, grasping Riko's hand in his own and ignoring the other males in the room. "I'm sorry for the way Kasamatsu treated you, my lady. He simply does not know how to treat a woman."

Riko cringed at the contact and was about to wave off the accusation, since it had been a mutual fight. But, when the man suddenly hugged her, she froze.

_'How dare he touch Riko?!' _Hyuuga gritted his teeth in annoyance. He slowly stood from his seat to teach the man a lesson, until the person uttered his next words.

"Now, how about you and I go somewhere alone..?" Moriyama suggested flirtatiously. He felt the brunette shaking in what he assumed to anticipation, but the other Seirin members knew otherwise...

_'He's a dead man...'_ If there's one thing their leader hated, it was types of people like this guy...

Kasamatsu sighed at his idiotic friends woman craze and was about to pull him away from the woman despite his mild phobia. When he noticed the deadly aura coming from the Fanalis.

Moriyama, confused as to why she hadn't answered him yet, pulled away a little to ask what was the matter. But he got his answer a second later when a strong punch was sent to his face, sending him flying into the hard stone walls of the room.

"Go die in a hole, you pervert!" The brunette yelled, giving the man no sympathy.

Kagami, Kuroko and the Kaijo group looked at the half-conscious man and then at the angered brunette in shock. Kagami's been hit by the woman before...but it seemed she used even more power than she usually did for him... He made a mental note not to anger the brunette as much as that guy did.

"Try that again, and I'll kill you." Riko said, glaring down at the injured man who dared to hit on her. Moriyama nodded immediately, fear written all over his face. Seeing the bluenette was about to help heal the man, she turned in his direction. "Don't think about healing him, Kuroko. He deserves it!" Kuroko still looked hesitant, but knew not to make the Fanalis angry, especially after what he's seen her do...

Seriously...ever since that red-head and bluenette came, Riko found herself hitting more people than usual. Usually it was only Koganei who angered her enough! Speaking of him...

_'Where is he anyway?'_ She finally noticed the lack of annoyance that would usually be provided by the loud and talkative cat-like teen.

"Where's Koganei, Hyuuga?" Kuroko and Kagami also looked around, noticing the teens absence now as well.

"Ah. It's his turn to watch over Kiyoshi."

"How is he doing?" Riko asked, eyes softening. After all that happened today, she was hoping for some good news. But by the look on Hyuuga's face when she asked, she knew that there was no change.

"He's-." Hyuuga got cut off when the wooden door slammed open and a panting Koganei entered the room.

They all raised a brow by the sudden entrance, until the brown-haired cat-faced man said his reason for coming here.

"K-Kiyoshi! He's waking up!"

"What?!" Hyuuga and Izuki shouted, surprising the Kaijo group. They came to the conclusion that the one wearing the glasses was loud and short-tempered, but they assumed that the paler one was the calm type and seeing him shout so suddenly shocked them.

Riko mentally prepared herself to greet Kiyoshi. It'd been so long since... She nodded at her friends and Riko, Hyuuga, Izuki, Mitobe,and Koganei hurried out of the room.

"Huh?" Kise raised a brow as the previously packed room was now nearly empty. The Seirin group had rushed out of the room so suddenly when that cat-faced person announced something.

_'Kiyoshi-san is awake?' _Kuroko thought, remembering the man they had seen when they first arrived in Seirin. Had the healing worked? He was about to get up and follow the bandits to check on the man, when he noticed that Kagami wasn't finished eating. He didn't want to leave his friend after everything that happened in the dungeon

"Want to go, Kuroko?" Kagami asked, seeing the boy look between him and the doorway.

"Ah, yes." The bluenette said, and when the red-head stood, the two also followed to go to the room they went to the day before.

"Uhh...who's Kiyoshi?" Kise asked. Kasamatsu shrugged.

By their reactions, it must be a person they care about and from the words they spoke before, he must have been in danger at some point.

"We should stay here-." Kasamatsu started, but Kise was already out the door. They could hear the blondes muffled voice from behind the closed kitchen door.

_"Wait for me, Kurokocchi!"_

_'God dammit...' _Kise seriously needed to read the mood sometimes...

"Let's go..." He said to the remaining three and bending down to help Moriyama off of the ground, they exited the room as well.

They walked on the creaky floor boards towards a room that had the door open, they could hear the faint sound of raspy breathing get louder the closer they got. When they reached the room and looked inside, the scene was different from what they expected.

The brown-haired person had said that the person woke up, but the stranger was still in the bed, eyes closed. And the faces of the people around the bed looked distraught and had lost the hopefulness they had when they left the kitchen. Even Kise looked disturbed by the sight of the man even though he didn't know him, and looking at him, Kasamatsu was as well...

"I thought you said he woke up..." Riko stared down at the brown-haired mans body, noticing that if anything, he looked worse than this morning, but not nearly as bad as he did before Kuroko healed him.

"W-Well, he started mumbling and his eyes twitched, so I went to get you all because I thought..." Koganei trailed off, disappointed at the false alarm and for bringing so much hope to his friend, only for it to be crushed.

Kobori took in the mans palid skin and the perspiration on his forehead. The brown-haired man was struggling to breath, if the irregular and loud way he was taking in air was anything to go by. Whatever illness the man had... it was deadly...

"Whoever cursed him, knows some very powerful spells..." Kobori muttered, looking at the man who was occupying the bed.

The mood was somber. They thought that their friend would finally wake up and be fine after what Kuroko did last night. But it seemed that whatever Hanamiya had done was much too powerful for someone inexperienced to cure.

Kagami saw the bluenette's saddened look and patted his head. It wasn't his fault that this was happening, but he knew how the other was thinking that.

"Who did this..?" Kasamatsu asked, looking at the extremely pale complexion and heavy sheen of sweat on the mans face.

"Hanamiya Makoto..." Izuki mumbled.

_'Hanamiya..?' _The Kaijo group gave each other a look. They knew about the leader in Kirisaki and wondered what the group of bandits did to anger him enough to do this much damage. The man had an awful temper, but to waste it on a bandit of an insignificant city like Seirin..?

"So, there really is no way to fully heal Kiyoshi..?" Hyuuga asked, looking at his friend with pained eyes, as he struggled to breathe each breath. The man wouldn't live much longer if this continued. Maybe a week or two at most...

_'There's only one person close enough that could counteract the effects in time...'_

Looking at the Seirin members, Kagami's and Kuroko's sad looks, he figured that the man meant a lot to them and knew he should help them. Kasamatsu may not have as strong feelings for the bluenette, but he knew that if he was sad, then Kise would be as well...

"Well, we do know someone who could fully heal him..." Kasamatsu said, a hesitant tone in the usually tough voice.

_'Why's he hesitating?' _They all wondered, and looked towards the blonde to get an answer.

"Someone... Ah! You mean Midorimacchi?" Kise asked, looking genuinely confused as to why Kasamatsu would be so unsure. "I'm sure he can heal him as a favor for one of his friends!"

"Don't be an idiot, Kise. The man hates you." Kasamatsu glared at the blonde.

"Ehh?! No way! Midorimacchi and I _are_ friends!" Kise insisted.

"What about the time that monster attacked and he left you to learn how to control your Djinn weapon on your own..?" The black-haired man gave the blonde a level-headed stare.

"He was just joking! He wanted me to push myself and test my abilities!" Kise looked at the Seirin group and winked. "Midorimacchi would love to help me help you! You'll see!"

Somehow, they all doubted it. And from the looks on the others of the Kaijo group, they did too.

"And maybe he can even get Kurokocchi's memories back!" Kise shouted, eyes lighting up at the thought of it. The Kaijo members rolled their eyes, knowing that the blonde had just stated the real reason he wanted to go to Shutoku.

At those words, Kagami couldn't help but feel worried. If his blue-haired friend got his memories back...would he forget about him and just go back to hanging out with his other friends..?

He looked at Kuroko who was silently standing next to him. Over the past few days, he's grown so accustomed to the boy. Almost like he was a little brother... He didn't want to be separated from him.

"Are you sure..?" Riko narrowed her eyes at the blonde. He was way too easy-going, and if the black-haired man was right about their relationship, then she doubted that the mentioned person would help Kiyoshi.

"Anything for friends of Kurokocchi." Kise grinned down at the blue-haired boy, who still wasn't used to the weird name calling.

"Alright...we'll go with you tomorrow." Riko said. Even if they had misunderstood one another, he seemed to be a genuine person, and if there was even the slightest chance to heal their ailing friend, then she knew they'd all take whatever risks they could.

"Thank you, Kise-san." Kuroko gave the man a grateful smile. Even if it was small, it was filled with such honest emotions that it practically brightened up the whole room.

Kagami felt a pang in his chest at the look and cursed himself for thinking such selfish thoughts. He couldn't even begin to imagine what the bluenette was going through. Not remembering anything about yourself, and going through so much everyday... It had to be scary. He couldn't deny Kuroko this... He just had to hope for the best...

Kise's thought process of the expression on the boys face was entirely different though...

_'Can't resist!'_ Kise promptly glomped the poor bluenette, sending them both to the ground.

"Oi, you bastard!" Kagami yelled, seeing the way the man was smothering his Kuroko...uuh Kuroko! He went up to the two of them and tried to pry them apart. "Get off of him!"

"No way, Kagamicchi!" Kise said, rubbing his cheek against the blue-haired boy's. Kuroko just stared forward blankly, trying to ignore the contact.

The Kaijo guards and the other Seirin bandits, all looked at the scene, wondering how that blonde could be a King, and how in the world was that equally irresponsible red-head going to lead them all?!

* * *

**Shutoku Kingdom**

The city of emerald, a wonderous place thriving with magic. Floating buildings and small palaces lined the outer area of the city, glowing stones emanating magic were soaring above the Kingdom, providing the magic source needed for everyday tasks.

Unlike the other Kingdoms, Shutoku is essentually a large nation composed of magicians, often referred to as the 'Magician's Country'. A place where people with strange powers can live freely and obtain more knowledge at Shutoku Academy. The school, which is at the dead center of the city is a castle with emerald encrusted rooftops and gray bricked walls.

Shutoku is a free place with no King, so to speak. Rather than a King, the person in charge of all the lands is someone with vast knowledge and power, who can handle any problems the country may have. His name is Midorima Shintaro, headmaster of Shutoku Academy.

He has short green hair, and eyes, his left eye hidden behind a monocle. He wears the black and green robes that were mandatory uniform for the academy.

Right now, he and the other members of the magicians council were seated in the conference room inside of the academy, discussing the new developments that had occurred a few hours ago.

"Apparently a dungeon appeared in the city of garnet." A middle-aged with black hair said. His name was Nakatani Masaaki, a magician and one of the teachers of the school.

"Don't be ridiculous, Nakatani! Why would one appear in such a dingy place?!" Miyaji Kiyoshi shouted. He had slightly long blonde hair and was also taught at the school. The student feared him because of his harsh tactics to make them learn spells and the way his temper escalated every time they did it wrong. "And besides, there's nothing on the radar now!"

Shutoku had a giant seeing glass that could capture the pictures of any location they desired. It was forbidden for anyone to use other than the council members and was powered by all of their magic, so the item would only recognize their own magic signals.

"Look at the pictures from a few hours ago." Nakatani waved his hand over the glass and they all watched as the scenery changed, showing a marble building surrounded by the trees of the forest. The building was definitely a dungeon and from the other run-down buildings around the area, there was no doubt that it was located in Seirin.

"I see...so a King candidate has been chosen..." Midorima mumbled. If this were true, then Seirin would be growing in power sooner or later. They would have to decide upon a good treaty to make sure no future wars came to pass and decide on possibilities of trading. "We need to call a meeting for the other Kingdoms..."

The other magicians of the council nodded.

"Call-" He started, only to be cut off by the sound of the large door of the meeting room banging against the wall.

"Shin-chan!" A loud and cheerful voice shouted, interrupting the meeting.

Midorima, knowing who the voice belonged to, turned around and sent a scowl to the man who had long, straight black hair and silvery blue eyes. His name was Takao Kazunari, Co-Headmaster of the school and childhood friend of the Headmaster, though the green-haired man would never admit it.

"What do you want, Takao..?" Midorima sighed, face turning neutral after seeing that the other completely ignored his glare and merely kept smiling. "And how many times do I have to tell you to stop pushing the door open that hard?"

"Eh? I just wanted to ask why I wasn't informed of the meeting! Seriously...I'm Co-Headmaster, Shin-chan!" Midorima's eye twitched at the nickname again. If anyone other than his friend were to call him that name, he would have immediately hex them...

"The reason you were not informed was because we could not find you. Maybe if you would stop wandering off, then this would be avoided." The black-haired man had a bad habit of buying, selling and trading objects whenever he could.

"But! There was too good of a deal at the trading house. I got this magic amplifier for five gold...FIVE gold, Shin-chan!" Takao held up an expensive looking staff. It looked to be worth much more than five gold, but Midorima didn't care.

"Whatever, just get to your seat and be quiet so we can resume the meeting..." The headmaster grumbled. Takao pouted a little, before sitting in the vacant seat at the other end of the table.

"As I was saying, we need to call a meeting with the other Kingdoms. Kimura," Midorima addressed the council member with short, shaven black hair. "contact Kaijo."

Kaijo was the Kingdom between Shutoku and Seirin, and despite his loathe to see that annoying blonde again, he knew that if anyone had any news about the place, he would.

Kimura nodded and left the room to quickly contact Kaijo.

"We will inform the other Kingdoms afterwards." Midorima said, his voice held a guarded tone.

"You worry too much, Shin-chan." Takao said, leaning back in his chair so it teetered a little. Seeing that the black-haired man wasn't taking this as seriously as he should, Midorima promptly sent a little magic towards the leg of the chair, causing it to go off-balance and send Takao to the ground.

"Ow!" Takao glared at the smug green-haired man, who immediately tried to cover up his amusement. Sometimes, the man wished that the green-haired man hadn't grudgingly accepted the advice to 'not always hide your emotions' from a certain Magi...

He was about to take his revenge, when Kimura came back and spoke.

"It seems that King Kise went to Seirin himself to personally check out the matter." Kimura said.

_'That blonde idiot...'_ Midorima couldn't believe how irresponsible a King could be... He should be at his own Kingdom taking care of things, but he went to some dungeon, which Midorima knew was purely for un-business related reasons.

"We will have to go to him then..." The green-haired man rubbed his temples in irritation.

Takao brightened up at the statement. It had been so long since they went anywhere! Even if it was to such a run-down place, it was still something!

"You're driving, Takao. The rest of you, make sure the students pass their exams." Even if this was a big matter, they couldn't simply leave their pupils unsupervised, so him and Takao would have to be the ones to go. Nodding, everyone filed out of the room, leaving the green and black-haired men alone.

"Eh! Why me?!" Takao asked. Even though he wanted to get out of the school, it didn't mean he wanted to be the one to drive... "Let's flip for it!"

"Do as you wish." Midorima sighed, adjusting the monocle to a better position.

The black-haired man took out the orb from his pocket. It reacted to magic and had a random chance of either turning red or green. They usually used the device to decide on minor decisions.

"I won't lose this time!" Takao promised. He had practiced this many times before, and with his statistics, the orb should stop at... "Red!"

As he called out the name, the orb began flashing back and forth between the two colors until it eventually slowed down and stopped. Takao visibly deflated.

"Why do I even bother...?" The black-haired man grumbled, looking at the solid green orb. He lost...again!

"Maybe if you bothered to look at the astral placement last night, you would've known that people born under cat's eye are ranked eleventh today, while the carnelian has the second highest luck." The green-haired man smirked. "Well, let's get going. This is an urgent matter."

"Yeah, yeah..." Takao sighed, resignedly and followed his friend out of the council room.

They both headed to start their trek to Seirin.

* * *

**A/N 3: **The members of Seirin range from 18-19 years old and Midorima and Takao are the same age as Kise and Aomine: 20 =)


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Thanks for all of the reviews! Puncakegoddess, deLovelyBones, Killua17, Reathie, sofsof2015, Quwer, and Sky Veneiano! :D

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or Magi**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

* * *

_**Seirin City**_

It was morning and a hint sunlight was streaming through the sheets covering the window. Riko had woken up hours ago, unable to sleep after hearing her friends possibility of mortality. It was horrible to even think that Kiyoshi could die because of some sadistic mans actions. But, the signs were becoming clearer and they all could not deny it any longer.

Last night, Kuroko had tried everything he could, but whether it be from exhaustion from healing everyone earlier or Kiyoshi not being in a state to be cured anymore, nothing worked. She remembered the down hearted look in his eyes when Kagami had to practically force him to stop trying to heal Kiyoshi, so the bluenette could get some rest.

_'I hope this Midorima guy can help...' _Riko thought, looking down at her friend and dabbing his forehead with a cloth. She was about to re-wet it when loud knocks startled her. Normally, she would've noticed the footsteps, but she was too focused to hear them.

"Riko-san!" The multiple shouts came from the door. The brunette sighed and got up from her spot near Kiyoshi went over to it. When she pulled it open, there were four familiar figures standing outside in the hallway.

"What are you all doing up so early?" Riko asked. The sun was way too low and produced much too little light for it to be the normal time they would visit.

"Sorry Riko-san, but we were just wondering if Kuroko-kun would like to play peachball with us again!" Kawahara said.

Riko couldn't help but smile. The four boys usually preferred to play by themselves and never included the other kids in the city. For them to have taken to the bluenette so quickly meant that the boy had obviously left a good impression on them. Despite his lack of skills at the game. But, sadly there were things that needed to be done.

"Sorry you all, but Kuroko-kun can't play with you all today."

"Eh? Why not?" Furihata frowned. Yesterday had been so much fun! Usually no one would pass the ball to him because he was the youngest and shortest of the group, but the bluenette had done it many times and he had actually been able to play the game. And the bonus of magic really impressed all of them.

"We're going somewhere today." When she said this, the boys eyes lit up, so she continued. "And no, you all cannot come."

"But!" They all protested.

"No 'buts'! It's too far and your mother would worry for you." She didn't want to use this tactic, but she couldn't let them come. "You wouldn't want that, would you?"

The boys all looked to the ground, knowing that she was right. They were all orphans until their mother took them in and they didn't want to make her sad after all that she'd done for them.

"Maybe you can all play together when we get back." She said, hoping to get their moods back up.

"Okay..." Tsuchida mumbled, giving Fukuda a look when he looked ready to protest again.

"Is Kiyoshi-san okay?" Furihata asked, noticing the loud breathing coming from the bed. Riko debated on whether or not to tell them. Admitting it out loud would make it so much more real, on the other hand, they did deserve to know since Kiyoshi often played with them. It wouldn't be right to lie to them...

"Kiyoshi's condition is getting worse..." She said softly. The four boys looked at the bed with wide eyes after that.

"Is Kiyoshi-san going to..." Kawahara trailed off, eyes full of sadness.

"But, today we're going to someone who can make him better." The brunette's voice was stronger as she said this.

"Really?" Fukuda asked, the others looking hopeful behind him.

"Yes." They smiled in relief at the answer. Soon they'd be able to play with their tall friend! "Why don't you all go to the kitchen, I'm sure Mitobe is there with some food."

"Are you coming too, Riko-san?" Furihata asked.

"I..." She didn't want to leave Kiyoshi, but they kept looking at her with those pleading eyes... She sighed. "Fine..."

Riko went over and wet the cloth again before placing it over the brown-haired mans head gently. After making sure he'd be fine, as fine as he could be, she returned to the kids and walked with them to the kitchen where surprisingly everyone was.

_'They must not have been able to sleep as well...' _Riko thought, looking at their slightly tired expressions.

"Morning, Izuki-san, Mitobe-san, Hyuuga-san, Koganei-san!" They greeted the four men in the room, who returned the greeting with their own.

Upon seeing the kids enter, Mitobe stood and gave them some food. They thanked him and began eating.

"Good morning!" Kise exclaimed, smiling brightly at the group who were seated at the table. The boys all looked at the man in confusion, never seeing them before and wondering what they were doing here.

Hyuuga's eye twitched at the loud shout.

_'Great...another Koganei...'_ He thought, annoyed at the loud and rude entrance. Was this guy seriously a King..?

"Morning." Kasamatsu greeting in a much normal tone of voice. He and the rest of the Kaijo guards sat in an empty space at the table. Kasamatsu sat a good distance away from the brown-haired Fanalis, still not used to her enough to be that close without acting weird and Moriyama avoided making eye contact with her, not wanting to anger the brunette again. Last nights punch had made him fear a woman for the first time...

"Eh, Kurokocchi isn't here yet?" The blonde asked after looking around for a few minutes, and noticing the lack of blue in the room.

"They're still sleeping." Izuki said. He heard them in Kiyoshi's room last night, and knew they had stayed up pretty late tending to him with Riko.

"It's getting pretty late." Riko said before turning to Izuki. "Can you wake them u-."

"No! I'll wake Kurokocchi up!" Kise interjected. He wanted to see the bluenette now! Without further delay, he stood up from the table and headed down the hall to the room where the red-head and bluenette were occupying. There weren't many rooms, so it was easy to find.

When he arrived at the door, he opened it quietly, not wanting to startle the boy and went inside.

"Kurokoch-!" Kise was about to shout and jump on the boys bed to wake him, but saw that it was empty. There were only two beds and from the large lump in the other one, he knew that Kagami was in the one closest to the window.

_'Did he leave?'_ He wondered. The bluenette he knew would sometimes leave unnoticed, but he was sure that he would've noticed him walking down the hallway since it was pretty narrow and he would have bumped into him.

He was about to leave, but decided it'd be best to at least wake the red-head up. Going up to the bed he went to shake him, when he saw the person he had been looking for all along.

The two were both asleep, Kagami on the left part of the bed, Kuroko on the right. If it was just that, Kise might have let it go... but the red-head had an arm drapped over his friend and the bluenette was comfortably snuggled to the teens chest.

"Kaga...micchi..."

_'Huh?' _Kagami opened an eye at the sound. Sitting up and running a hand through his hair, he yawn and looked over to see blonde hair. Blonde... _'Oh yeah, that King...'_

What was he doing here? And why did he look so angry..?

"What are you doing to my Kurokocchi?!"

"Huh? Just sleeping." Kagami said, still half-asleep. What was the blonde going on about..? He looked around and froze, seeing that the bluenette was in his bed again.

_'What the?! Why again?!'_ He remembered taking Kuroko from the other room and coming back here, then trying to cheer him up before falling asleep. _'He must've snuck into the bed when I fell asleep...'_

"Wh-what?! But, you..he! You're sleeping in the bed together!" Kise said incredulously. By this time Kuroko had woken up, hearing the loud voice and noticing the fact that his pillow had changed positions.

"He came into the bed when I was sleeping." Kagami explained, shrugging.

"You..!"

"Ah, good morning Kagami-kun, Kise-san." The bluenette greeted, sitting up and leaning closer to the red-head, making Kise even more on edge.

"Kurokocchi! You shouldn't sleep in the same bed with him!" Kise said. He was too used to the way the bluenette used to practically stay glued to Aomine's side, and for him to act this way towards the red-head felt weird!

Kuroko tilted his head to the side, not knowing what was wrong with doing that.

"But, I like sleeping with Kagami-kun." Came the innocent reply. Kagami felt a heavy blush come onto his face at the words the other used, and was about to correct him when he felt a dangerous aura behind him.

"Kagamicchi... Have you been taking advantage of Kurokocchi?" Gone was the blondes disbelief, replaced with pure anger. Kagami wasn't a wimp and would normally jump at the chance to fight, but the blonde looked ready to kill and he had to admit that it scared him.

"N-No! We didn't do anything!" Kise didn't find the objection to be convincing, and Kagami could see the blonde reaching for his dagger. He tried to calm him down by getting the bluenette to deny the accusation. "R-Right, Kuroko?"

"Does Kagami-kun not like sleeping with me..?" The bluenette's voice was sad as he asked this, and his big blue eyes were staring up into Kagami's red ones.

_'Those eyes...'_ Kagami groaned, knowing he couldn't deny that look.

"I...I don't hate it..." He said, looking away and scratching his cheek.

"Kagamicchi!" Kise yelled. He was about to advance on the red-haired teen that dared to admit such things about his friend, when a harsh kick was sent to his back, sending him sprawling on the floor.

"Ow, Kasamatsu..." Kise groaned. "Why?!"

"I could hear your idiotic yelling from the kitchen! Now get up and let's go!" Kasamatsu didn't give the blonde time to complain, grabbing the back of his shirt and pulling him towards the door to the hallway. He paused before exiting.

"Everyone's in the kitchen waiting." He said, receiving a nod from the red-head who was relieved that the other had barged in before anything could happen, Kasamatsu left, dragging the whining blonde with him.

Kagami sighed and looked over at the bluenette after the threat was gone to tell him what was wrong with what he said. Seeing the state the others hair was in stopped him from asking the question he was about to ask.

"You seriously need to tell me how you end up with that hair..." Kagami said, chuckling a little at the way those wild blue locks defied gravity.

"Ah..." Kuroko's eyes went up, trying to see how badly his hair was this time, but of course couldn't. Kagami smiled and ruffled his hair before getting out of the bed and stretching. He winced at the soreness of his muscles, and remembered the reason for them.

_'That dungeon was harsh...' _He thought. The fight with the blonde hadn't made it any better either. He had let his guard down and underestimated that guy because of his looks, and he promised himself that he'd never do that again...

Hearing shuffling sounds behind him, he turned and saw the bluenette was sleepily fixing the bed, a habit Kagami had never taught him, since he himself didn't care for doing such a thing.

When the blue-haired boy was done fixing the bed, Kagami decided that they should get on with the day and do what the black-haired man had told them.

"Hungry?" Kuroko nodded. They both headed to the packed kitchen. Hyuuga and Kobori were back at their staring contest, Hayakawa seemed to be in an eating contest with Koganei and Kise, Mitobe was smiling at the four boys as they ate, Riko and Izuki seemed to be discussing something important and Moriyama and Kasamatsu were avoiding the brunette like the plague.

"Hey." Kagami greeted as he walked inside, making everyone stare at him and nod in return.

"Good morning Hyuuga-san, Izuki-san, Riko-san, Mitobe-san, Koganei-san, Kasamatsu-san, Kobori-san, Hayakawa-san, Moriyama-san, Furihata-kun, Fukuda-kun, Tsuchida-kun, Kawahara-kun." Kuroko greeted everyone who were finishing up their meals.

"How long have you been here?!" They all jumped in surprise, not noticing the bluenette was there until he spoke. Riko had to say that she was impressed that the boy remembered all of their names especially the names of the boys that he must have only met for a short time. Especially since he had amnesia, she was beginning to wonder if that really was the case since his memory seemed to be quite good.

"I've been here since Kagami-kun and I walked in..." He said, as if reciting something. He's had to tell people that at the inns and taverns he and Kagami went to before coming to Seirin. He had no idea why people lost track of him sometimes, but he was used to it by now...

He was a little nervous being around over a dozen people, so he made sure to stick close to Kagami as they made their way to an empty seat. The action didn't go unnoticed by Kise and Kasamatsu and they could tell that whatever bond they had together was a strong one.

They both sat down and looked at the fruit on the table. Kagami sighed, seeing no meat in sight yet again... And from the selection that was left, he knew that Kuroko wouldn't be happy as well. He reached into the bowl and grabbed a few for himself before handing one of the red fruits to the blue-haired boy, who frowned at the object in his friend's hand.

"Sorry, Kuroko...It's all that's left..." Kagami said. He had no idea why, but the bluenette seemed to dislike apples.

"Ah... Thank you, Kagami-kun." Kuroko stared at the object for a few more seconds before biting into it and tasting the familiar sourness.

They all sat at the table and ate their breakfast. Tsuchida and the others tried to get Kuroko to tell them more about himself, but there wasn't much to tell, so they settled with telling him stories of their daily adventures, which the bluenette found very interesting. Kagami and the other older members discussed other things, like what to do with the treasure they got and what to do upon arrival at Shutoku.

This went on for a while until the brunette noticed that the amount of time they had to relax was coming to a close.

"Alright you guys, get to your mother." Riko ordered. Kuroko frowned a little. Even if he wasn't much of a talker, he enjoyed listening to all the stories they were telling him. Kagami patted his head, seeing his disappointment.

"Aw but Riko-san." Came the chorus of objections.

"We have to do last-minute stuff before we leave, okay? And besides it's getting pretty late in the morning." The sun was now casting a proper amount of light and she could hear people outside doing their everyday routines, meaning they also had to do their chores.

"Okay..." The boys sighed before bidding farewell to Kuroko, Kagami and the rest of their friends.

Once the four were gone, they all went over the preparations that needed to be done before they left.

"We will be leaving within the hour." Riko announced.

"Izuki, get the carriage from the back and tie the horses to it. We will need it to carry Kiyoshi." She knew they couldn't settle on just horseback like they usually did for their...interceptions. She refused to call hem robberies! They were for a good cause!

"Koganei, you find the cot and put Kiyoshi on it, gently please..." The cat-boy saluted and went to do as ordered. "...Maybe you should go with him, Mitobe..." The black-haired man nodded and followed the other to Kiyoshi's room.

"Kagami, Kuroko-kun. Hyuuga and I will get leave some of the gold so the people can eat while we're gone." Riko knew someone who was trustworthy enough to keep up the supply of food without being blinded by greed. "It shouldn't take long so make sure you both meet us at the front within ten minutes, okay?"

Recieving nods, she and Hyuuga exited, leaving the Kaijo group, Kuroko and Kagami there. Now that there was more room at the table, Kise got up and sat on Kuroko's other side.

"Oh god. I thought I was going to die yesterday." Moriyama said, relaxing finally. Kasamatsu also looked visibly better now that the woman was gone.

"Ah! What happened to youl spilit, Moliyama?!" Hayakawa shouted.

"She hits too hard..." The man mumbled. Kagami nodded in agreement, knowing the crazy strength the Fanalis had.

"What do you expect? Saying such things to someone like that?" Kobori said apathetically. He was glad that someone had finally knocked sense into the woman obsessed man.

"Haha, you do need to work on that, Moriyama." Kise smiled.

Kuroko listened on to the conversation silently. He didn't know what the other did wrong. He had just asked Riko if she wanted to go to another room... Was that bad..?

"Is it bad to go into other rooms, Kagami-kun?" The bluenette tilted his head to the side and looked up at his friend for an answer.

Everyone froze, finally remembering that there was an oblivious kid in the room with them. They were suddenly glad that the bluenette craved for the red-heads knowledge and not theirs at the moment...

"Uh..." Kagami looked at them for help, not used to being around kids much and not being good at explaining these things. But when they all turned away, he knew that he was on his own...

"W-Well... you see Kuroko... Remember how I told you not to go with strangers..?" The blue-haired boy nodded. "Well... what Moriyama did to Riko...was kind of the same thing...I guess."

_'Ah...'_ Kuroko nodded in understanding.

"Then...you should only go into other rooms with people you like?"

"Yeah!" Kagami said, still uncertain of the explanation, but glad he got the gist of it.

"Then, me and Kagami-kun can go into rooms together?" The question seemed very innocent, and if they were discussing anything other than what they had been, he wouldn't have objected to it... But knowing what Moriyama had meant by 'going somewhere alone', it made the red-head blush ten times more.

"J-Just don't do it with anyone..." He stuttered. Feeling odd that other than embarrassment, he felt no other negative emotions at the thought of what the bluenette asked...

"W-Well, we should go..." Kasamatsu coughed. This conversation had turned out much more awkward than he'd like and from the eager way everyone else stood to follow him, he knew they also felt that way.

"I'll get the carriage." Kobori offered, being the first to leave.

"Done eating, Kuroko?" Kagami asked, standing and throwing away his many apple cores into the designated spot for disposal. Kuroko nodded and put the single core of his away. Despite the sour taste, he had finished it.

"Let's go, Kurokocchi!" Kise shouted, grabbing the boy's hand and heading outside. Kagami grumbled and followed, put off that the blonde had beat him to it...

The seven of them exited the hideout and saw the two carriages were outside waiting for them. Kuroko climbed into the less lavish looking one that belonged to the bandits and saw the brown-haired man inside, laying down on the cot at the back of the carriage. His eyes turned sorrowful, hoping the man would make it. The Rukh around him, even though faded, seemed nice and kind. He wanted to meet the man that they flocked towards...

Kagami got on and patted the space next to him, snapping Kuroko from his sadness. The bluenette went over to his friend and sat beside him, feeling a little better as he felt the red-head soothingly rub his hair.

"Just follow us, we'll lead the way." Kasamatsu said. He knew they could find their way to Kaijo without them, but it'd be best to stick together for the journey.

Izuki, being the designated driver nodded, and got the reins ready to follow them.

Shortly after, Koganei, Mitobe, Riko, and Hyuuga got into the carriage.

With everyone here and done with their tasks, they all finished loading into the two carriages and took off. Their destination; Shutoku.

* * *

_**On the way to Shutoku**_

They had been traveling for a few hours now. Kasamatsu and the other Kaijo members, except for Kise who had argued to be let onto carriage with his 'precious Kurokocchi' only seconds after their departure, were leading the way a few meters ahead. Izuki was humming merrily as he steered the horses to follow them, Riko and Hyuuga were beside Kiyoshi, wiping the mans forehead every now and then and making sure he was comfortable. The others in the carriage were lounging around sleepily, which was to be expected from a dull ride like this.

Kuroko however seemed to find these rides fun and had observed the passing scenery over the hours. But as Kagami looked over at the boy, he saw that he wasn't looking outside anymore and decided to start a conversation to pass the time and see what was wrong.

"Are you okay, Kuroko?" Kagami asked, seeing the look of concentration on the blue-haired boys face.

"Ah, yes Kagami-kun. I've just been trying to talk to Ogiwara-kun, but he won't speak..." The bluenette replied, staring at his braclet with a frown.

_'Ogiwara..? Oh.' _Kagami remembered the fire Djinn that helped them in the dungeon. If he heard the other right, the teen said that Kuroko could summon him when he wanted to. So why wasn't it working now?

"Who's Ogiwara?" Kise asked, never having heard the name before. He assumed it must be the name of one of the Rukh or something. Kuroko had often told him the things they spoke to him about and how sometimes the Rukh could take spirit forms and appear in front of him. Kise would always get worried about the bluenette seeing things that he couldn't since he was always pretty oblivious and kind-hearted and now he was even more so.

"Ogiwara's the name of a fire Djinn that helped us kill a giant monster in the dungeon." Kagami explained.

"Now that you mention it..." Kise thought back to the moment they had first seen them in the dungeon. That fire Djinn had definitely been summoned there and looking at the bluenette's wrist, that bracelet definitely had a Djinn symbol on it. "Where did you get that bracelet, Kurokocchi?"

"When I woke up, Ogiwara-kun was there and gave it to me. He said to use it when I needed to."

"Hm... a Djinn gave you that willingly?" Kuroko nodded, the astounded tone in the blondes voice making him wonder if it was wrong for Ogiwara to do that.

"He's never had that bracelet before?" Kagami asked.

"Not that I know of. Then again, I haven't seen Kurokocchi for months." Kise pouted, remembering how boring and lonely he'd been without the bluenette to visit him in Kaijo. He'd tried to see him in Touou, but the guards kept turning him down and saying Aomine was accepting no visitors...

_'Months?' _Kagami thought. If Kuroko really was this 'Aomine's' Magi, then why in the world would he not notice he was gone for that long? Kagami knew for sure that if the bluenette was missing for that long... He would've definitely kept looking for him no matter what... Whoever this Touou King was, he was sure he wouldn't like him.

He was about to ask the blonde more about 'Aomine' when Riko's voice interrupted him.

"Izuki? What's the matter?" Riko asked, feeling the carriage start to slow down and noticing her friends change in demeanor. Izuki pointed up at something in the sky in response.

_'Up there?' _Kagami raised a brow. Why would the sky be stopping them? Could the man tell that a storm was coming or something?

They all followed his gaze and sure enough there was something there... it was a bit too far to disconern what it was, but it was definitely coming closer and at a fast pace.

"What is that..?" Hyuuga asked. Eyes narrowing.

"Stay in the carriage, Kuroko." Kagami said. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good. The bluenette looked ready to object, but when the red-head gave him a look he knew that the other wouldn't let him. So he nodded a little unsurely and went further inside the carriage, keeping an eye on Kiyoshi to occupy himself.

The others in the carriage exited. Kasamatsu, seeing them all get out, stopped his carriage as well and the Kaijo guards got out also.

"W-What's the matter?" He asked. Riko pointed upwards and he followed her gaze.

Now that it was closer, they could all make out that the object was a carriage. But, why would a carriage be flying..?

_'Isn't that...'_ Kasamatsu's eyes narrowed at the flying vehicle as it got closer.

The group watched with bated breath as the object descended and a few moments later it slowly lowered to the ground before landing with a thud. There was an annoyed voice coming from the inside of it, followed by a laugh and an apology. The group all got on guard as the door of the carriage opened and the people inside stepped out.

There were two of them. A smiling man with long black-hair and blue eyes and another had a serious looking face with green-hair and green eyes. Both were wearing black and green robes.

Riko was about to question their reason for coming straight at them, when the blonde King spoke.

"Eh! What are you doing here, Midorimacchi?!" Kise shouted.

_'Midorima..? This is the guy they were mentioning?' _They all wondered what he was doing here. Had Kise informed him or was this mere coincidence..?

"Shin-chan was lonely and wanted to visit you all!" Takao said, grinning at the Kaijo group.

"Don't make up such nonsense, Takao." Midorima glared at the man before turning back to the blonde. "You were not in Kaijo, so I had no choice but to go to Seirin to get you. Luckily we saw your carriage before we arrived there."

"Ohh...Sorry!" Kise said, rubbing the back of his head and smiling. He didn't look even a little sorry... He sighed and for the first time looked around at the other strangers there. They expected him to say something...anything about their presence, but then those green eyes just glanced at them, sending them all an unimpressed look before ignoring them altogether.

_'What the hell is his problem?!' _They wondered. After seeing the rude display, they could tell that they wouldn't like this man. But, Riko knew that they had to get along with him if they wanted their friend healed, so she attempted conversation.

"Hello, my name is Riko and these are my companions." She started. "We come from Seirin-."

At this, Midorima finally looked back over at them, interest in his eyes. He looked over at Kise before turning his gaze back to the brunette and noticing their clothing.

"What are you doing traveling with bandits, Kise?" The man asked, raising a brow.

"Well...I was kind of promised that you could heal their friend for them." Kise grinned, which was returned with a glare from the other.

"And why should I help the likes of them?" Hyuuga gritted his teeth and if it weren't for Mitobe, he would have walked up to the man and given him a piece of his mind.

"They are friends of Kurokocchi!" Kise said, smiling brightly.

_'Kuroko..?' _Midorima didn't see him anywhere. And why in the world would he be traveling with bandits in Seirin? Had Aomine found out about the King candidate and came here before him?

"Aomine's not here, Midorima." Kasamatsu said, knowing what the man was thinking about. "And Kuroko...he's not exactly himself."

"What do you mean?" He asked. He wouldn't admit that he was worried, which he was. That blue-haired boy had helped him out a lot in the past and even if he showed indifference towards him, he wished no harm to come to the boy.

"It seems that somehow Aomine's Magi contract with Kuroko was broken." The black-haired man informed him.

_'A Magic contract...being broken..?' _That was unheard of...

"But that's..." Midorima couldn't fathom what this could mean...

"We were actually on our way to see you for that reason too, Midorimacchi." Kise said. "Somehow Kurokocchi's memories were taken away... He doesn't remember anything before meeting him."

Kise gestured towards the teen with the dark red hair, making Midorima turn his attention to him. Kagami stared back, a little taken back by the calculating look being sent his way.

"And you are?" The green-haired man asked him, speaking directly to one of them for the first time.

"Kagami Taiga..." Kagami said.

"And just how did you meet Kuroko, 'Kagami Taiga'?" Midorima asked in a condescending way.

Kagami glared at the man in front of him. He didn't like the way these people were treating him when he did nothing wrong!

"Calm down, Shin-chan." Takao spoke. "Just give them a chance to explain themselves, yeah?"

Midorima didn't say anything, just narrowed his eyes further, but since he didn't object to the suggestion Kagami assumed he was okay with it.

"I met Kuroko about a week ago. He had no memories at all at that time, so I assumed he had amnesia and took him with me to travel." He explained. "And yesterday he told me that he was a Magi and wanted me to be King..."

_'Kuroko chose him as King...'_ it was impossible to do so when Aomine is one and the bluenette was his Magi for years.

Midorima looked at the teen for a few moments, trying to tell if he were lying or not. When he saw no deception, he decided to get down to business.

"Where is he?" Perhaps the boy had gotten hit on the head and was too weak to come out or something?

"Kurokocchi's in the carriage." Kise said.

"Come out, Kuroko. It's safe." Kagami said in the direction of the carriage, loud enough for the boy to hear it. Hesitantly, the bluenette poked his head out of the vehicle and seeing that everything was alright, jumped down from it and went over to stand next to his friend.

_'This...'_ Midorima's eyes widened, taking in the sight before him. Not many things could shock him, but this was definitely one of the few that could. He could tell without a doubt that this boy was Kuroko. His appearance, albeit shorter and slightly altered, and magical signature were exactly the same as the teen he knew.

_'What could possibly alter not only the mind, but the body as well..?'_ He could not think of anything. But, at least the boy had no injuries and wasn't in the condition he thought he'd been in...

"Is there anything you can do, Midorimacchi?"

"As of now, no." Seeing the disheartened looks from the Kaijo group, he continued."It's possible that the library at the academy could have some information on such a occurance. I will have to research this in order to find a solution..."

"What can I do to help, Midorimacchi!?" Kise asked, eye twinkling as they looked up at his friend with admiration. He was willing to help the bluenette!

Midorima's eye twitched and at the annoying display, remembered the reason he came to Seirin. Since it seemed the King Candidate was here then the only other matter was...

"Kise, get back to Kaijo." The green-haired man ordered.

"Ehhh! But I want to stay and protect Kurokocchi!" Kise protested, hugging the boy to him.

"He will be fine in Shutoku. I assure you." Midorima said, before reprimanding the other. "For you to act in such a way, leaving your city unattended to is entirely unacceptable. If something were to happen and you were not there, do you realize what could have happened?"

Kise glared at the ground, trying to think of something to use against the green-haired man. But he couldn't think of anything. Everyone knew how safe Shutoku was. It had at least three impenetrable force fields surrounding it and hundreds of mages to protect the inner city. And he had been irresponsible to leave like that... he'd just been so bored!

"Don't argue, Kise." Kasamatsu said. He too was at blame for allowing the blonde to persuade him into coming here. As curious as he was about this whole situation, they couldn't possibly leave a whole Kingdom for days with no ruler. They had to return.

"Kise-san has to go?" Kuroko asked sadly. Sure the man was kind of weird and squeezed him a lot. But he enjoyed the others happiness and personality.

"Yeah..." The blonde pouted.

"Thank you for everything, Kise-san." Kuroko said, giving the other a smile. He was grateful to the other for what hes done. Helping him out of the dungeon, saving his friends and even giving him hope of knowing more about himself.

"Kurokocchi..." Kise felt tears sting his eyes.

Kuroko stared at the crying man with confusion. Had he hurt his feelings?

"I'm sorr-." The bluenette was cut off when the man lifted him into the air and hugged him tighter.

"I'll visit you! I promise! Even if I have to sneak away from Kasamatsu!" Kise yelled, completely blowing any element of surprise he could've had to do such a thing. Once they get back to Kaijo, Kasamatsu would make sure the blonde would do no such thing... Unless it were for business purposes.

"I-I'll miss you too, Kise-san." Kuroko managed to choke out from the iron like hug the blonde had him in.

"Let him go, you bastard!" Kagami said, taking his friend back from him. Seriously,the way people were grabbing his Kuro-..his friend was starting to annoy him!

"Kagamicchi! You better take care of Kurokocchi! Don't let someone take him as easily as I did before!" Kagami felt his eye twitch at the reminder.

"Yeah, yeah..." Kise pouted, but he knew that even if the red-head was saying it nonchalantly, that he would do as he said.

"Bye Seilin! Good Ruck with youl fliend!" Hayakawa shouted from his position

"S-See you, Riko..." Moriyama stuttered, trying to get back to his old self, but failing.

"Huh? Yeah bye pervert." The brunette replied, uncaring.

Moriyama's shoulders slumped and he got into the carriage, wondering why his luck with girls was so bad...

"Take care." Kobori nodded to the group before silently stepping onto the carriage and grabbing the reins.

"If you ever need help, don't hesitate to contact us." Kasamatsu instructed, speaking to both Midorima and Takao and the Seirin group. He wasn't totally sure what to make of the group of bandits, but he respected them enough from their hospitality and the skills the brunette had shown while fighting her. And that red-head... he seemed like an honest person who stood for what he believed in. He just hoped that everything would go well for them.

With a last wave, they all settled into their position and drove off, down the dirt path that led to Kaijo.

Kuroko and the others all waved at the retreating vehicle. He'd miss the Kaijo group, but he had a feeling that they'd meet again...

When the carriage finally went out of view, they all stopped waving and turned back to the green-haired man.

"So? Where's this friend you need healed?" Midorima asked, remembering the other reason the blonde had mentioned.

"He's back here." Riko said, going up to their own carriage and pulling back the sheet, revealing the man who was in the back.

Midorima narrowed his eyes at the sight and nodded. The man was in definite need of attention. He had to commend the blonde on being able to realize the severity, but then again it was probably his advisor that thought of it...

"Put him in our carriage and get in as well." They all sent him questioning looks. Why couldn't they keep their own carriage?

"It will be easier to transport you all in our carriage. Not only is it faster, but it's much safe than..." He looked at the worn down condition of it and gave it a look of detest. "Than _that_..."

"Not that there's anything wrong with it!" Takao said, holding his hands up when he saw the multiple glares being sent their way.

They really didn't like this mans attitude... But they did as he said and moved Kiyoshi into the bigger carriage before settling in themselves. Riko untied the horses and patted their backs. They took the signal and rushed off, back in the direction of Seirin. After finishing the task she got in as well.

As Kuroko was walking past, he looked up at the green-haired man with curiosity.

Midorima looked down, sensing eyes on him after a while and found himself looking into the big blue eyes of Kuroko's. He got an odd sense of deja vu... Remembering how the first time he met the boy had looked at him the same way.

"W-Well. Get on." He said, turning away from the look and striding into the carriage.

Kuroko tilted his head, wondering if he had done something to offend the man.

"Let's go, Kuroko." Kagami said, holding out his hand. The bluenette accepted it and with he red-heads help, they both got to the carriage and went inside. It was plain, but much more spacious.

"I suggest you all hold on." Takao said, smiling at the group. They raised a brow at the suggestion, before knowing why.

Just as the landing looked to be a little rough, the take off was as well. They felt themselves get jostled a little before the carriage evened out and a few moments later they were off of the ground and feet in the air.

Kuroko held onto Kagami tighter, not used to the sensation of floating. Neither was Kagami, but he refused to chicken out in front of the bluenette.

Riko looked at the man who was resting on the floor of the carriage a few feet away and sighed. Even if all of this was weird, they knew... Knew that this was it. They were once again on their way to Shutoku. Not the way they expected, but going nonetheless. Soon...soon they'd be able to do what they've wanted for so long. They'd get their friend back.

Although they were a step closer, they knew that he wouldn't be out of the woods yet. There were still factors to consider and they couldn't stop themselves from thinking of them. But still... this was a big chance...

They just hoped that it wouldn't be too late...

* * *

**A/N 2:** Sorry for sending Kise away ;-; I'm going to miss him too... But I couldn't find a reason for him to go. He's a King after all and he's been gone from his Kingdom for a day XD Anyway! Forgive me!


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Thanks for all of the reviews! Puncakegoddess, deLovelyBones, HipsterL, clarit, FanRan, Reazthie, Rika Tone, and gsinbyk! :D

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or Magi**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

* * *

_**Shutoku Kingdom**_

Midorima sighed, looking at the group of people across from him. When they left Shutoku to check on the Seriin situation, he hadn't expected to go back to the academy with all of these bandits, including the new King candidate and the blue-haired Magi he had met years ago...

During the ride, the boy had been so unlike his usual teen self. Merely months ago when they were riding together in this very carriage with Aomine, the boy had just stared forward blankly out of the window. But now, it was almost like the bluenette had gone back in time. Not only was he practically glued to the red-heads side, he was also looking out the window with such interest in his eyes.

It was odd, but Midorima assumed it was because of the bluenette's loss of memory, but it still didn't explain the true conflict: How he de-aged and why Aomine did nothing about it.

_'What could have happened..?' _He wondered. Being a magician made him naturally curious about the unknown, and even though he told Kise about the possibility of Kuroko regaining his memories, the truth was that Magi's and Djinn's were beings that were very secretive. And because of that they shared little information about themselves, meaning there were only a few books that had information about them.

_'Perhaps the ancient tomes...'_

"Should I land it inside or outside, Shin-chan?" Takao's voice snapped him from his thoughts.

Normally, they'd check all who entered the Kingdom at the outside gates and make sure they were not evil magicians. But, with the exception of Kuroko, who he was sure wasn't evil, they all had no magical abilities, so he supposed that they could bypass that.

And the faster they got to the academy, the sooner he can heal the man and then he could get started at finding a cure for the bluenette.

"Just land on the roof, we have to get to the medical bay to deal with...him first." Midorima said, referring to Kiyoshi. The Seirin group in the back of the carriage felt their eyes twitch in annoyance at the green-haired mans constant rudeness towards them.

But, when they were about to retort, their gazed on the amazing view that was revealed as the carriage made its way over the giant walls of the gates.

Kuroko stared at the buildings below. They weren't being help up by anything. He'd never seen anything like that since the time he's been in this world. And from the look on his red-haired friends face, he knew that whatever it was, he didn't know about it either.

"It's magic." A voice said from behind him. Turning around, he saw that it was the green-haired man who had spoke. The others in the vehicle stared on, shocked that he was finally willingly speaking to one of them. Then again, knowing how Kise claimed they both used to know the bluenette, it made sense he would choose to talk to the boy. "We accumulate the magic and it makes the buildings levitate."

"And what about that building?" Kagami asked, pointing to the one they were heading towards. There was something different about it than the others around it. Besides the large size in comparison to the houses, it also had a weird feel to it.

"That's Shutoku Academy." Takao said, when Midorima chose to ignore the red-head and tell the bluenette more about the other things in the city. "We can heal your friend there."

"A castle..?" Riko had never seen one, well one that was still intact anyway. The one in Seirin was crumbled to pieces, and the only other Kingdoms she has gone to had palaces and other luxurious types of buildings.

_'Seems like Shutoku is a very cautious place.'_ She thought, not sure if she should be happy that they would be safe, or suspicious at the fact they felt they needed these securities...

"Shin-chan's just a worry wart." Takao whispered to the group, hearing the questioning tone of the brunette. "Although he won't admit it, he really cares for all the students studying here."

"Be quiet, Takao." Midorima said, glaring at the black-haired man.

"Ah. You heard me huh?" Takao let out a small embarrassed laugh.

The group looked on at the exchanged and wondered how two people with totally different attitudes could stand each other...

_'Then again, Hyuuga and Kiyoshi were like that too...'_ Riko thought to herself sadly, remembering how her glasses wearing friend would always get mad at the other only for Kiyoshi to laugh it off. They were so different, but sometimes that was a good balance.

She looked at the rest of her friends. They all hadn't slept well ever since Kiyoshi got sick. After returning to Seirin from Kirisaki, the brown-haired man had stumbled around a lot. They thought it was just him being his goofy self and playing around, but as the days went by it kept getting worse... the vomiting... the headaches... eventually he had a seizure and has been sleeping since.

_'If only we did something when the symptoms first showed... if only...'_ She tightened her fists, ignoring the pain from the force of it.

"Are you okay, Riko-san?" She heard a voice ask. The bluenette was right in front of her.

"Oh..." Riko wiped her face. She hadn't realized she had started crying... and in front of all her friends and these strangers. She had to be the strong one and for her to cry like this...

"Midorima-san's going to help Kiyoshi-san, right?" Kuroko said, trying to cheer her up.

"Yes...you're right Kuroko-kun." Riko smiled. She didn't want to discourage the boy. There were many things that could go wrong. But, his intentions were so pure that she felt herself believing...hoping he was right. "Thank you."

Riko ruffled his hair and Kuroko smiled, seeing that the brunette was no longer crying.

"Hold on, we're landing." Takao said. Looking back out the window, they saw that they were above the castle now and slowly descending.

The group all braced themselves, remembering how shaky the carriage had landed when they were with Kaijo this afternoon. A moment later there was a loud 'thud' and the entire vehicle shook from the impact.

"How many times do I have to tell you to land slower, Takao?" Midorima said, composing himself.

"Eh! But where's the excitement in that?" The black-haired man said. Midorima's eye twitched, but since they had things to do, he let it go...for now.

"Come, there's no time to waste." Midorima said.

Everyone nodded and filed out of the vehicle, Koganei and Hyuuga both carried the cot that Kiyoshi was on and then they followed the green-haired man into the building.

When they entered the building they didn't know what to expect. Sure, the outward appearance of the place was impressive but on the inside it was even more so.

There were dark tiles for flooring and the hallways were lined in finely crafted wooden arches and columns that were covering smooth cream-colored stone walls.

"Welcome back, Midorima, Takao." The voice belonged to a man with black hair that was styled in an upward fashion.

_'Tall...'_ Kuroko thought. He thought Kagami was the tallest person ever. But, this man was even taller...

"Everything in order, Otsubo?" He asked.

"Yes, the students are fine and there have been no visitors since you left." The man reported, before staring at the group of unfamiliar people who were behind the headmaster.

"Who are these people?" The mans eyes narrowed at the them, making them wonder if all magicians besides the friendly looking Takao were snobbish like Midorima and this person.

"They are from Seirin." He explained vaguely.

_'Seirin...'_ Otsubo recognized the name from the meeting earlier, but he wondered why the green-haired man would bring outsiders here.

"Sorry, Otsubo, but we are kind of in a hurry." Takao apologized, gesturing to the ill man who was being carried on the cot.

"I will inform everyone of what happened later." Midorima said, assured the man. "We will be in the infirmary if you need us."

Otsubo hesitantly nodded, accepting the promise and moving out of the way to let the group advance.

The nine of them continued down the hallways until Midorima and Takao stopped at a large door. Riko and Kagami noticed that the writing above the doorway looked similar to the ones that were in the dungeon.

When the door opened it revealed a simple room that had the same features as the hallway, but had many cots lined up against either side of the wall.

"You can put him on the bed." The green-haired man instructed, walking inside of the room swiftly.

Everyone entered as well and Hyuuga and Koganei both gently lowered their friend onto the piece of furniture and got out of the way when Midorima went up to it to examine the man for the first time.

As he raised his hand and moved it over the brown-haired man, the group noticed that his fingers were taped. Kuroko was about to ask if the man was okay since Kagami had his arm wrapped in a similar object after he got hurt during a job he did. But before he could, he saw some of the Rukh in the room go towards the white material making it glow.

_'Magic..?'_ Kuroko wondered. Ogiwara told him that it could only be used with an amplifier, and the green-haired man definitely didn't have one in his hands.

Everyone else watched on as a light appeared from nowhere and hovered over Kiyoshi for a few moments before the light dimmed and faded and the man removed his hand.

_'Strange...' _Green eyes narrowed at the information he found from scanning the man. If it was correct, then he would not be able to cure him on his own...

"Takao, get Nakatani." Takao nodded and went to get the man.

"Who's Nakatani?" Riko asked.

"He's someone who excels in potions." Midorima said, moving away from the bed now that his examination was done. "His ailment is not solely from magic."

As much as the green-haired man believed in magically superiority, he was not naive enough to think that everything could be cured by it.

A few minutes later Takao came back with a middle-aged looking man who had ear length black hair. He went straight to the bedside without questioning their presence, so they assumed Takao must have explained everything to him on the way.

Nakatani did the routine check up, checking his pulse and feeling for his temperature. He could tell from the mans appearance alone that whatever happened to this man wasn't good.

"Tell me, what were his symptoms like before he collapsed?"

"Kiyoshi wouldn't tell us everything, but we noticed that he would walk unstably sometimes, vomiting and he complained of headaches." Riko told the man.

After she spoke the man looked thoughtfully at the body for a few moments before piecing together a possible cause.

"Hm, from the symptoms it sounds like your friend came upon some conium." Nakatani muttered.

_'Conium...Poison hemlock..?'_ Izuki thought. If Hanamiya used that then...

"But, if he were to use that, wouldn't...Kiyoshi be dead by now..?" He asked.

"That would usually be the case, but it seems that someone used both a fatal dose of it and then used a spell on top of that to delay the mortality effect." Nakatani said.

Everyone was shocked by this. They assumed it was one or the other. It truly was worse than they originally thought.

"But, why would he do that?" Hyuuga asked. Not only had the man poisoned their friend, but he used a sort of spell that could heal him? It didn't make sense.

"Whatever the case, you should be glad that the person did this. With the amount of Conium he used, your friend would have been dead within the hour of consuming it." The man provided. They all froze at the words.

Sure, they were relieved but why would Hanamiya both harm and heal Kiyoshi? It didn't make sense.

"On the other hand, whoever did this obviously wanted your friend to suffer as long as possible before it killed him." Midorima said, eyes narrowing in suspicion at the bandits.

He had an idea of who did this, and if he was right then these people were on the bad side of someone he didn't care to run in with. This only meant he had to get the cure done and over as soon as possible.

"How long will it take to prepare the potion, Nakatani?" Midorima asked.

"The potion should take no longer than two days to brew." Nakatani said. He'd have to work on it between classes, but it should be easy enough. "But, the recovery may take longer. I'd estimate he'll be at full health within a few weeks to a month."

_'That long..?' _Midorima sighed. He stared at the occupants in the room, before his gaze landed on the bluenette and he remembered the other matter. _'At least it will give me more time to research.'_

"Why a month?" Kagami asked. A month was a long time, and he and Kuroko had barely made a dent in their goal to make Seirin a Kingdom yet.

"It is not a quick task to repair and regrow organs." The man explained. "If you want him to have a full recovery then that is the time needed."

The news wasn't what they wanted to hear, but they knew from the serious look on Nakatani's face that what he saw was for the best.

"Alright, get started as soon as possible." The older man nodded and left the room to do as told. Once he was gone everyone stayed silent.

"What's the matter, Shin-chan?" Takao noticed that Midorima had his eyes narrowed at the brown-haired bandit.

"I didn't think that he knew this strong of a spell." He murmured, looking at the Rukh that was surrounding the man. "Usually the glow would be more faded..."

"Kuroko-kun did try something a few days ago." Riko mentioned, remembering the way the bluenette had went up to the man and the two of them started glowing.

"I see..."It would explain why. The bluenette he knew did tend to try and help others as much as he could...

"I'm sorry, Midorima-san." Kuroko apologized. Whatever the spell was that Midorima was talking about, he had accidentally done something to it.

When Takao saw the bluenette's disheartened face he gave Midorima a disapproving look. Midorima sighed and slowly reached out a hand and patted the boy's head.

"What you did was not completely unnecessary, Kuroko. By providing the counteracting spell with more Rukh, you strengthened it and slowed down the poison by more than it was originally." Midorima said. He was secretly impressed by the fact he had been able to do something like that without knowing about the spell.

"I need to inform the others of the Seirin problem." Midorima told Takao.

"Thank you for your help, Midorima." Riko said gratefully. The man only spared her a glance before nodding and heading for the door.

"Stay and keep an eye on them." Midorima said lowly on his way out. Takao nodded. He had heard everything as well, associating the poisoning and spell casting to the same person Midorima had, and even though he preferred to trust these people, he knew how dangerous the person who harmed their friend was.

"What's his problem..?" Kagami grumbled, looking to Takao for an answer.

"Hmm? Don't mind him. He just...doesn't take kindly to non-magicians." He answered with a smile.

Thinking back to the difference in treatment of Kuroko and them, they decided to believe him.

Everyone was quiet for a while, absorbing everything they had heard a few minutes ago.

"What now?" Koganei asked.

"We have no choice but to wait like he said." Riko didn't want to stay here for a month, but she refused to leave Kiyoshi's side for even a day.

"What about Seirin?" Izuki asked. "We can't just leave everyone unattended." Mitobe nodded in agreement.

"Hyuuga and I gave the gold to someone who knows what to do if we do not return. At the very least, everyone will not starve because of that." She explained, looking at Kuroko and Kagami gratefully. The idea may have been horrible to go inside of a dungeon unprepared, but in the end it had done a lot of good.

Even if that were true, Kuroko couldn't help but feel sad at the fact he wouldn't be able to see Furihata and everyone for that long. They had spoke of such fun things this morning and he had looked forward to trying them as well...

_'As long as it gets Kiyoshi back on it's feet, I don't care how long it takes.'_ The bandits thought.

"What about Hanamiya?" Hyuuga asked. Everyone looked at the man with questioning eyes. "That bastard did all of this to him..." He muttered, thinking of the black-haired Kirisaki leader who was the cause of all this.

"Calm down, Hyuuga." Izuki tried to comfort his friend, but it didn't seem to work.

"What do you mean, 'calm down'?! Kiyoshi almost died!" The man had not only intended to kill Kiyoshi, but now to find out that he had done something so sadistic to his friend? He couldn't let it stand. "I'll kill him..."

"Not here, Hyuuga." Riko said firmly, her gaze flickering to the black-haired man in the room with them. They couldn't talk lightly about things like this, especially in the presence of someone who could use it against them.

Hyuuga still looked angry, but he stopped talking and kept his glaring gaze downward. Izuki frowned and tried to help his friend.

"Look...We understand how you feel Hyuuga. But we ca-."

_Grumble_

All heads turned in the direction of the sound and they landed on a certain red-head who was trying to avoid their gazes.

"Kagami..." Riko glared at the red-head who interrupted Izuki with his stupid stomach.

"Uh...sorry..?" Kagami said, rubbing the back of his head and having the decency to look embarrassed.

"Haha. I could take you all to the dining hall if you want." Takao offered.

_'It is getting late...' _Riko thought, looking at the darkening sky. "Alright, Takao-san."

"Are you coming, Hyuuga?" Izuki asked quietly.

"If it's any consolation, only Midorima, one of the other professors and I have access to enter the room because of the runes surrounding the room." Takao offered, heading towards the doorway.

"Come on, staying here won't help him. As hard as it is, we will just have to wait..." Riko said when the man didn't move.

Hyuuga hesitantly nodded and with a final glance at Kiyoshi, they all followed.

* * *

Silence. Complete silence. That's what was heard as the group stared into the room the black-haired man had led them to. The room itself was grand. Chandeliers were hanging from the ceilings to provide lighting and simple torches were lining the walls to bring extra brightness.

But, that wasn't what had all of them frozen in place. In the center of the enormous room was a large and long table. An assortment of different fruits, vegetables, breads and meats.

"Eat whatever you like." Takao encouraged them.

As soon as he uttered the words, everyone sat at the table.

Sure, they had all been eager to dig into the meal that had appeared out of nowhere, but no one was more excited than Kagami, who after being forced to eat nothing but fruit for the past few days.

_'Meat...'_ Kagami stared at the chicken and beef with hungry eyes. These past few days have been nothing but fruit, fruit and more fruit.

After making sure that Kuroko was all set with his food, he set to tear into his own.

Everyone looked at the red-head in shock, except Kuroko, who was used to this behavior from his friend after traveling with the red-head for many days.

"H-How's he doing that?" Koganei stared at the teens puffed out cheeks in amazement. He never knew that was humanly possible...

"Huh?" Came the unintelligible response.

"Close your mouth, idiot!" Riko yelled. She so didn't need to see the chewed food in his mouth.

"You really have no manners...do you?" Hyuuga grimaced as the red-head shoved another piece of meat into his already full mouth.

Even Takao was speechless. He thought that Aomine had a huge appetite, but this red-head proved him wrong...

While Kagami was in his own paradise, everyone else chatted with each other, trying to get their minds off of the negative news they received earlier and focus on the positive. Kiyoshi was going to be healed. They were going to have their friend back to his usual cheerful self within a few weeks.

_'Ah...that was good...' _Kagami thought when he was content with the amount he'd eaten.

"Did you have enough, Kuro-." The red-head turned to his left and looked down at where the bluenette had been before, but froze when he didn't see him. Looking around at the other seats, he also noticed the lack of blue and started to panic.

Did he get up and wander around?! Kagami knew how curious Kuroko was to new things, and being a magical place like this most certainly would have piqued his interest. But, at the same time, the bluenette had always stuck by him ever since they met.

"Tet-chan went to the toilets." Takao spoke up, seeing the way the red-head was looking at the empty seats with a disturbed and frantic expression on his face.

"You let him go alone?!" Who left an oblivious twelve-year old wander an unfamiliar place alone?!

"No, your cat face friend went with him." The black-haired man said.

Kagami didn't know whether he should feel relieved or more worried that he was alone with that person of all people.

"It was like five minutes ago though..."

"And you didn't think of looking for them..?" The red-head asked, glaring at the man, who looked completely unconcerned.

"Haha! Don't worry about it. I'm sure they're fine. Besides, the bathroom is right down the hall." Takao waved the red-heads worry off.

Kagami couldn't believe this man was so unconcerned... He didn't like to leave the bluenette's side for so long especially after what happened in the dungeon. And even though an adult was with him and they weren't very far away, he still couldn't help but feel anxious.

_'I'll just go and check if he's alright.'_ Kagami thought. But as he was about to get up, the familiar spiky brown hair of the person they were talking about ran into the room with a slightly panicked expression.

"Took you long enough, Koganei." Hyuuga said.

"Where's Kuroko?" Kagami asked, looking behind the man and not seeing the bluenette.

"Uh... about that..." Koganei rubbed the back of his head with a strained smile. "I may or may not have lost track of him..."

"You what?!" From the outside this place was huge and the inside was even bigger!

"He just disappeared!" The man screamed in distress, afraid of all the glares he was receiving.

"I'll go look for him." Takao offered, but Kagami was already halfway out of the door before he could even finish the sentence.

"You better hope that he finds him, Koganei..." Riko said threateningly to the teen who shivered in fear before hiding behind Mitobe.

He really hoped the red-head found him soon, both for Kuroko's sake and his...

* * *

"Lost..." Kuroko whispered to himself.

After exiting the bathroom with Koganei, they had been ready to go back to the room when a strange sound echoed through the hallway. Almost immediately after, dozens of people exited the rooms around them and not noticing him had pushed him into the large crowd and away from the cat-faced man. It was only when the crowd went into other rooms that he found himself able to escape. But now...

He looked around, not knowing where he was at all. Usually when he got separated from Kagami he would search for his Rukh. But this place had so much of it and he couldn't find the red-heads anywhere.

_'Have to get back to Kagami-kun...'_ Kuroko was about to walk in a random direction and hope that he'd find his friend, when a body collided with his, sending him to the tiled flooring.

"Oh! Sorry!" The person shouted before bending down to help Kuroko off of the floor. "Didn't see you there!"

"Thank you..." The bluenette said, accepting the hand and shakily standing up.

Once he was steady, he took a good look at who helped him. The person was about Kagami's age and wore a similar robe to what Midorima and Takao were, but a little different. He had a shaved head and gray eyes.

Just as Kuroko took the teens appearance in, the other did as well and didn't find him familiar.

_'Never seen him around here before.'_

"You new here?"

"I'm visiting here with my friends." Kuroko said.

The boy with the shaved head looked at the hundreds of lights surrounding Kuroko. Rukh usually flocked to those who had power and by the looks of it the bluenette had a lot...

_'Maybe he's considering going here and is looking around?' _If that was the case, he wanted to be the first to introduce himself!

"I'm Tsugawa Tomoki!"

"Ah, I'm Kuroko Tetsuya." He returned the greeting.

"So, what's your friends name, Kuroko?" Kuroko looked at him for a little before deciding to answer, since the Rukh around him were friendly.

"Kagami-kun. I got lost and can't find him..." Tsugawa never heard of someone with that name before, but seeing the shimmery blue eyes the boy was making, he felt like he should help him at least...

"What's he look like? I'll help you!" The teen grinned.

The bluenette paused, trying to think of a good way to explain his friend to the other.

"He's tall and red and really nice." Kuroko said smiling.

Tsugawa raised an eyebrow What kind of description was that?! But, he could see that the bluenette tried his best to describe him, so he thought it'd be better to ask a different question...

"Ah... Don't know anyone that looks like that. Where'd you last see him?" Tsugawa asked.

"We were in the..." He paused, trying to remember what Takao called the room. "...dining hall."

Tsugawa was a little suspicious that a non-student was wondering around here. But, seeing as he was let inside of the academy at all, he assumed he had gotten permission or something. So he told the bluenette what he wanted.

"Well... If you take two rights and head straight, you should make it back to the dining hall." Tsugawa instructed. "I'd take you, but curfew's soon and I have class tomorrow.

"What's class?" Kuroko asked the boy, curiosity getting the better of him.

_'He doesn't know what class is..?' _Tsugawa wondered why the bluenette was here. This was an academy after all. Maybe he was being modest..? Or was he trying to be arrogant and was saying he didn't need to attend classes to be good?!

"You're kidding...right? Haha..." When he saw the genuine curiosity in the bluenentte's eyes, he knew it wasn't a joke and got excited at the opportunity to teach someone something rather than being the one taught!

"Class is where you study to learn spells and stuff!" He answered. "Today we learned how to combine heat and wind magic! We had to keep it in a jar of course, but inside of it was a tornado of fire!"

_'Tornado of fire?'_ Kuroko didn't know what a tornado was, but after seeing what Riko did to Kagami the other day when he tried to use fire, he was a bit hesitant to even think of the hot object.

"There are other magic types too." Tsugawa said, seeing the dubious expression on the others face. "There's heat, life, light, lighting, strength, water, wind and..."

Tsugawa stopped, counting his fingers and noticed that he missed one of them.

_'What was the last one...'_ How could he forget?! His older brothers were going to be so disappointed in him for forgetting such an easy thing that everyone learned within the first few days of class!

Kuroko tilted his head, waiting for the other to continue. He was really interested. Ogiwara had only explained about gathering Rukh and using the magic from it. Was there really other ways to use it?

"Uh...it's..." Tsugawa was about to name something randomly, so he wouldn't look bad when someone answered for him.

"Sound magic." A voice came from behind the two.

Kuroko turned around and saw another person there, wearing the same robes that Tsugawa was. He had dark blonde hair and wasn't too much taller than Tsugawa.

"Ah! Tanimura! I would've figured it out eventually!" Tsugawa sent a deep frown in the other teens direction, who merely laughed.

"Sorry, sorry. It just seemed like you were having trouble remembering." The blonde teen answered.

Truthfully he was...but there was no way he was going to admit it!

"Where's Papa?" He asked. Usually the two were always together.

"He went to our room early." Tanimura said.

His gaze then landed on the blue-haired boy standing in front of him and he raised a brow. Seeing the questioning look in his eyes, Tsugawa spoke.

"Oh, Kuroko. This is one of my friends. Yusuke Tanimura." Tsugawa motioned towards the one with light brown hair, who waved at the bluenette.

"You're an exchange student or something?" Tanimura asked, looking at the boy curiously. He'd never seen him around here before and from his age it seemed like he could barely be a first year.

"Oh, no. I'm just here with my friends. I got lost and Tsugawa-kun was giving me directions."

"Pfft! Him? Give directions?" Tanimura chuckled.

"Hey! What's wrong with my directions?!"

"Asks the one that couldn't even remember all the magic types..." The brown-head gave the other an unimpressed look.

"I would have remembered eventually." Tsugawa protested.

"Sure, sure." The teen said condescendingly. "Anyway, where were you heading again?"

"Oi! What are you all doing?!" The four jumped a little from the loud shout and turned to see the source.

When Kuroko saw familiar red hair of his friend he immediately went to Kagami's side, where the red-head proceeded to fuss over him to make sure the bluenette was fine.

"Where'd you go, Kuroko?! I looked everywhere!" He checked the hallways near the bathroom Takao had mentioned, but couldn't find the bluenette. He had only wandered down this hallway by chance when he saw the group of people and was about to ask if they saw Kuroko anywhere, when he noticed the bright blue hair of the boy who was standing among the other two.

"I'm sorry Kagami-kun...I got lost..." Kuroko admitted, frowning a little at the fact he had inconvenienced his friend.

"I guess it's fine since you're alright..." His gaze softened when he heard the sad tone of the blue-haired boys voice. But, when the red eyes turned back to the two in front of him, they hardened once again. "And who are these people?"

"Ah, this is Tsugawa-kun, and Tanimura-kun." When Kuroko said 'Tanimura' the blonde one smiled, so the remaining name must belong to one with the shaved head. "They were trying to help me find you."

"Oh." He felt a little bad about his hostility, but what was he supposed to think when strangers were surrounding the bluenette?

"This is the friend that you mentioned?" Tsugawa spoke up. Kuroko nodded. When the bluenette spoke of him before, he had pictured someone entirely different... The 'really nice' part made him think of someone with a kind face like Takao-sensei or something.

_'He doesn't look like much...'_ Tsugawa noticed that the teen had no magic potential at all.

The red-head and shaved head teens stared at each other for a moment. Kagami didn't know why the other was staring at him, but he refused to back down from a staring contest since he seemed to want one.

_'What's up with him..?' _Kagami wondered, when it was beginning to last an awkwardly long time. He got his answer a few seconds later.

"Hahahaha! What's up with your hair?!" Tsugawa could barely get the sentence out from behind the laughs. He then caught sight of the way the red-heads eyebrows split and laughed even harder. "A-And those eyebrows!"

Kagami's eye twitched from the obnoxiously loud laugh and he glared at the person in front of him, hoping he wouldn't have to resort to violence in front of Kuroko to make it stop. When the laughing continued, he decided enough was enough! He was about to yell at him when someone beat him to it.

"Please don't make fun of Kagami-kun, Tsugawa-kun." Kuroko said, attempting to make the same facial expression as his friend would when he was upset, but on his face it only looked like a cute pout. "Kagami-kun's hair is very cool."

All of them blushed. Kagami because of the unexpected compliment coming from the boy, and the other two from the adorable sight of the blue-haired boy trying to defend his friend with such an un-intimidating face.

"Alright, alright!" Tsugawa said, hoping to stop the bluenette from making that face. "His hairs not that bad."

"Sort of..." He whispered under his breath, making Kagami annoyed again.

"Let's go, Kuroko." Kagami glared at the teens and walked past them.

The bluenette looked between the group of students and his red-haired friend before bowing to them and following Kagami.

"Bye, Kuroko!" Tsugawa shouted. The blue-haired boy paused and waved at both of them.

"Are you okay, Kagami-kun?" Kuroko asked, seeing that the red-head still had a glare on his face.

"I'm sorry for making Kagami-kun look for me..." Kuroko frowned, thinking that his friend was still upset about it.

"Huh? Oh...It wasn't your fault." Kagami reassured him and ruffling his blue locks. If anything he blamed Koganei entirely. The bluenette gave him a relieved smile, happy he hadn't made the other mad.

"A-Anyway. Just don't go talking with strangers anymore, okay?" Kagami said. He's told the bluenette that many times...

"But...they told me their names. So they're not strangers, right Kagami-kun?" Kuroko asked, head tilted as he looked up at his friend for confirmation.

_'What?!'_ Kagami tried to remember if he ever told the bluenette something as ridiculous as that, but couldn't.

"Who told you that?" He asked, wondering if it had been that idiot Koganei since he had been the only one here who was alone with Kuroko long enough to have the opportunity to.

"Kise-san." That explained it...

_'That bastard...' _Kagami now had more motivation for getting back at that blonde for all he did. But seeing how they were hours away from him, he let it go for the time being...

"Come on, let's head back to the others." He held out his hand to the bluenette, not wanting him to get lost again.

Kuroko took the hand with a smile, feeling comforted by the warm Rukh that belonged to his friend as he did. He had missed it and immediately felt safer.

They continued on and eventually made it back, only turning the wrong way once since all of the hallways looked pretty much identical to Kagami. When the doors opened, the other occupants in the room looked up.

"Y-You found him!" Koganei exclaimed, seeing the bluenette beside Kagami. He was relieved...when the red-head hadn't come back for a while, Riko had threatened to cause him bodily harm for being irresponsible.

Takao turned to look in their direction and one of his eyebrows raised at the sight of their intertwined hands and the close proximity they were standing next to each other. In the carriage he had just assumed the red-head and bluenette had stayed so close to each other out of fear because of the new flying experience. But from the way the rest of the Seirin group saw nothing wrong with the scene, he figured it must be a normal occurrence.

_'Are they really that close to each other..?'_ He wondered. Once again puzzled about the mysteries concerning Touou and Kuroko.

"Where'd you find him, Kagami?" HYuuga asked.

"He was in the halls far from where Koganei said he left him..." Kagami informed them as the two made their way back to the table and sat down.

"Koganei ditched you that far away, Kuroko-kun?!" Riko was outraged!

"No, Koganei-san and I left the toilets together, but then I got lost in the crowd."

If that was the case, then it wasn't entirely his fault, but still! She wished he would be more observant sometimes especially when a kid was involved.

"Seems you're off the hook for now, Koganei." Riko said, putting a hand on the mans shoulder and squeezing much harder than necessary, making the poor cat-faced teen wince in pain.

Mitobe, who was sitting on the other side of the bluenette tapped his shoulder and made some hand gestures.

"He wants to know if you want more food." Koganei translated, when the bluenette merely tilted his head in confusion at the others actions.

_'How could he tell from those random hand movements?' _Kagami and Takao wondered.

"Ah, no I'm fine Mitobe-san." Kuroko smiled at the man, who was a little disappointed that he couldn't feed the boy anymore food, but he still returned the expression.

As Takao watched them all interact he didn't know how to feel. They were all definitely strange, but from the way they acted and treated the bluenette he could tell that they cared for him.

He knew that it was the right thing to help him recover his memories, but... Kuroko seemed so much happier now than how he was when he and Midorima went to visit Touou a few months ago. And if he were to be honest, he had felt sorry for him.

The boy used to be just like this with Aomine and his other guards, but he knew had been through so much after establishing the sapphire Kingdom and it had definitely affected him. Was it truly good to bring back all of those memories to him..?

He sighed. No, they couldn't possibly just turn the other way on this issue. And knowing Midorima the man wouldn't give up on a task that he's already started.

_'It's for the best.' _He thought, looking at the smiling bluenette as a grinning Kagami once again tousled his hair.

He just hoped that none of them would regret it...

* * *

**A/N 2: **I had no idea how to end this chapter XD Hopefully wasn't too weird... And Midorima will appear more in the next chapter! =)

**A/N 3:** Is everyone okay with a lime? Might not be for a chapter or two, but I want to be sure that nobody is against one. =)


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: **I'm so sorry for the longer periods of time between updates lately. Last week was Finals week for my school and I couldn't find the time to write anything. Along with that, I find myself writing paragraphs for every story and then going back to another. I really need to make up my mind... XD Anyway, hope you enjoy :D

**A/N 2: **Thank you for all of the reviews! Reazthie, clarit, Blume -San, Killua, sunflora263, Guest, Puncakegoddess, Sarekkandarikulover, maybe143, sofsof2015, deLovelyBones, 2nd guest, 3rd Guest, Rika Tone, Akatsuki1210, duanengo2, destiny6100, and YiskaXIII! :D

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or Magi**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

* * *

_**Shutoku Academy**_

Takao let out a yawn as he made his way through the darkened corridors towards his room. The halls were empty since both teachers and students were sleeping by this time. He hadn't realized how late it had become while he was in the dining hall with Kuroko and his friends.

After the dinner he had situated them all in the unused rooms that were near the infirmary before deciding to retire for the night as well.

He let out a little chuckle, remembering their antics. That brunette obviously was in charge despite Kagami's label as 'King' and she seemed to have quite a temper... He was vaguely reminded of Momoi; thoughtful, strong, and caring. And the rest of them had unique qualities about them as well that would make for a good balance to Kagami's and Kuroko's lack of experience so far.

They were a bit strange, but amusing to say the least and he enjoyed doing things besides teaching for once.

He turned right to head towards bedroom, when out of the corner of his eye he saw light coming from a room to the left.

_'Someone's awake at this time?'_ He debated on ignoring it and going to sleep, but decided to make sure in case some student was wandering around without permission. If Midorima knew he'd just walked along and something happened, then he'd be getting the scolding of a lifetime...

The black-haired man headed towards the light until he came in front of the large doors that belonged to the library. He opened the doors quietly and stepped inside.

The library was enormous and it needed to be since Shutoku had one of the largest information basis in the world. Books lined almost every inch of the walls, ranging from spell books to journals written by travelers. But, those weren't the most important of them. In the basement there were many rare tomes and other books that dated many centuries in the past. They were extremely valuable and if it weren't for the force fields and other safety measures, he was sure many people would try to get inside just to obtain them.

His eyes scanned the room and landed on the back of the person who was inside of the room, seated at one of the many wooden tables that had a huge stack of books on it. From the familiar green hair and robes, he knew it was none other than Midorima.

_'What's he doing up?'_ He wondered.

Takao was about to go up and greet the man, when he realized something. There Midorima was, completely unaware and distracted. A wide smile went on his face at the prospect of getting back at Midorima for spelling the chair from underneath him during that meeting! Yes...

Takao slowly made his way towards the middle of the room, making sure to keep quiet and stay out of any light sources so they wouldn't cast a shadow. He was mere feet away when a voice broke through the silence.

"What are you doing here, Takao?" Midorima grumbled.

_'Darn it...' _He frowned at his loss of chance and with a sigh stopped sneaking around and walked towards the table his friend was at.

"How'd you know..?" Takao asked. Midorima simply rose a brow at the question. "Right, right... the Rukh..." Takao gave a short, embarrassed laugh at his mistake.

"Where are they?" Midorima asked, not seeing the group with Takao. He told him to keep an eye on them...

"Sleeping. I put them in the rooms near the infirmary."

"Did they do anything that could cause concern?"

"Other than a little slip up in the infirmary, nothing suspicious." The black-haired man reported.

Midorima nodded. He didn't completely trust the group, but as long as they weren't causing trouble it was fine.

"How about your meeting?" Takao asked, remembering the reason for Midorima's absence. Taking in the irritated and exhausted that came onto the green-haired mans face when he asked the question, he knew it hadn't went well.

"That bad, huh?"

"Miyaji..." Came the muttered response as Midorima closed the book he was looking at and returned it to the pile on the table.

Takao nodded in understanding. Miyaji and himself were the only ones who dared to speak up against Midorima sometimes. Takao because of his friendship with the green-haired man and Miyaji because of his temper. And with the news Midorima went to announce at the meeting, he knew there was going to be some trouble.

"I'm guessing he was against the whole letting the future King of Seirin and bandits stay in the academy." Midorima nodded.

"He will just have to deal with it, just as I have."

Takao rolled his eyes at his friends attitude. He could have very well just denied them but had let them come anyway. Normally he would've vocalized it, but seeing how tired the man was, he decided to cut his friend a break and change the subject.

"How's the research going?" Takao asked, looking at the dozens of books on the wooden surface.

"Nothing yet... Only theories were written in the journal and the books on Magi's are all vague stuff that anyone would know about..." Midorima stated with a sigh. "I'll have to search the tomes tomorrow."

"Do you... really think they'll have information on a way to restore Tet-chan's memories?"

"I'm not sure..." He didn't like admitting it, but some things were a mystery to the world and information on different beings were limited. There are ways to restore normal peoples memories and even manipulate them. But Magi's are not classified as normal and he dared not tempt with the boys life after all he'd done for him in the past...

Takao just stayed silent and processed the answer. He didn't know if he should feel glad that he hadn't found anything or not, remembering the happiness on the bluenette's face when he was with his friends and especially Kagami.

"You're sure that nothing happened?" The green-haired man asked, noticing the silence and hesitance that was coming from the usual calm and easy-going man. Had the Seirin group done something while he was gone?

"No, nothing bad." Takao reassured.

"Then..?" He knew something was amiss and wanted to know what.

"It's just that... they all seemed...happy." Takao said. "Maybe we could just...leave it as it is..?"

Midorima frowned at what he was insinuating. Takao had a bad habit of being overly friendly to people, but he knew it was more than just that. He could see where Takao was coming from. He noticed the differences in the bluenette's mood during the carriage ride as well, how unburdened and carefree he looked was a change from the teen he knew. However, they couldn't risk this, especially after what happened almost a year ago.

"If Kuroko really lost his memories, then eventually Aomine will find out about it. And what do you think he will do when he hears that some new King has possession of him?"

Takao knew the answer. Aomine and Kuroko were really close to each other despite their few disagreements. And the navy-haired man was extremely possessive of him, so he had no doubt that he'd do whatever he could to get him back...

But, he had a feeling...a feeling that everything wasn't simply a matter of memory loss... Aomine's lack of response over the past few months, Kuroko's change of appearance... Something strange was going on and to be honest Takao sort of liked the Seirin bunch. They seemed like such a caring group of people, and he had no doubt that when they made their Kingdom that it'd be a good one.

"You know that we can't just turn a blind eye now." He said. Not only does that loud-mouthed Kise know about Kuroko's condition, but Aomine was bound to know about a new Kingdom sooner or later.

"Yeah, you're right." Takao sighed resignedly. "Anyway, I'm turning in for the night." Takao said, feeling the tiredness from before resurface. "What about you, Shin-chan?"

"I guess." There wasn't much he could do today without checking the tomes and asking Kuroko for more details. Midorima stood from the chair and looked at the mountain of books with disdain. He didn't have the energy to deal with them now...

Takao noticed and with a wave of the hand, the books floated into the air and went into their respective places on the shelves. Midorima sent him a nod of thanks and the two of them quietly exited the library and headed in the direction of their rooms. Both too exhausted to hold a conversation after everything that happened today.

As they neared Takao's room, Midorima remembered something that had been discussed at the meeting that concerned the person he was walking with.

"Oh, you were chosen to supervise the exams tomorrow." He said.

"Eh!? Why me?!" Takao shouted. Normally he'd be happy with this chance, but he had wanted to hang out with Kuroko tomorrow... "I thought Otsubo and Kimura were supposed to."

"Nakatani is busy creating the potion for Kuroko's friend, and Otsubo took over your class today. So, you're taking his place for this."

"Then...Miyaji!"

"No." Midorima said firmly, remembering the chaos that ensued the last time the strict teacher had administered the test to the students. He promised himself to never allow the man to do do again...

"Fine..." Takao said with a frown halfheartedly. "See you in the morning then."

Midorima nodded and when his friend disappeared behind the closed door, he went to his own rooms and settled down.

_'Forgot to check the fortunes...' _The green-haired man thought ruefully. They had been here for less than a day, and his schedule was already being thrown out of whack...

Normally he'd go back, but it was late and he was too exhausted to go back now... He'd just have to wake up earlier and check in the morning. With a sigh he relaxed, planning to do just that as soon as he caught up with some sleep...

* * *

Morning arrived and the group of Seirin plus Kagami and Kuroko were once again in the infirmary. Last night Takao had graciously changed the runes to temporarily allow them to have access to the room, and as soon as Riko and Hyuuga woke up they immediately went inside to check up on Kiyoshi. Gradually everyone else awoke and also gathered together inside of the room.

Without free reign of the castle, they didn't have much to do and decided to just lounge around until told otherwise.

Kagami was seated on one of the unoccupied beds, looking out of the window and gently patting Kuroko's head that was laying on his lap. For some reason the blue-haired boy was still tired after waking up this morning and despite his urges, he was adamant to stay awake.

"You sure you don't want to go back to sleep, Kuroko?" Kagami asked.

Kuroko shook his head, not wanting to leave the presence of his friend. Besides that reason, there were too many thoughts in the bluenette's head to fall asleep. All night he couldn't help but attempt to do as Tsugawa had said; turning Rukh into wind and other stuff. But no matter how hard he tried he couldn't do anything with the Rukh besides spheres.

Kagami was about to advise Kuroko to at least take a nap here, but he was interrupted when two people walked inside.

"Morning." Takao greeted the group, receiving similar acknowledgement.

"Did you all have a good sleep?" Takao asked.

"Yes, the rooms were very comfortable." Riko replied. The rooms had been much better than their own worn out ones in their base at Seirin. "Are you sure we won't be in the way?"

"The student dormitories are on a different area of the building, so you can all stay here without any problems." Takao said.

"Thank you both for allowing us to stay." Riko said gratefully. They had allow them to stay on such short notice and she appreciated it.

"It's nothing." The black-haired man smiled at the group. "I'm just glad that I can see Tet-chan again after so long!" Takao ruffled Kuroko's hair with a huge smile on his face.

Kagami discreetly moved Kuroko a little further from the mans reach so he would stop patting him. But, it didn't fool anyone. They knew what and why he did it.

"Haha, sorry?" Takao said, unaffected by the possessive action.

Kuroko looked up at the two from his position and noticed somthing different about the green-haired man today.

"What?" Midorima asked, uncomfortable with the stare he was recieving.

"Your eyes..." Kuroko said, realizing what was different. The man had been wearing one glass on his eye before, but now there were two...

"Huh?"

"I think he means your glasses, Shin-chan." Takao said, with a chuckle.

"Oh. Yes, they are necessary for today."

"What do you mean?" Kagami asked, raising a brow.

"If you must know, these glasses are an item that will counteract the bad fortune that should be happening today." He explained.

They all looked at him weirdly at the answer. Was he paranoid..? It would make sense with all of the securities they had around the building... But, one person didn't mind it.

"Midorima-san is cool." Kuroko commented. He wasn't sure what the man meant by bad fortune, but he thought the 'glasses' fitted the man more than the monocle.

Midorima blushed, but before he could be found out, he covered the look by making it look like he was adjusting his glasses further up. "They are not meant to be 'cool'..."

Takao shook his head and smiled wide. It amused him how much the bluenette could catch his stoic friend off-guard.

"So, what are you all planning to do today?" Takao asked.

"This..?" Hyuuga responded, raising a brow.

"Haha, I suppose there really isn't much for you to do here..." Takao said. Most places in the academy were only accessible to magicians.

Silvery-blue eyes brightened, coming up with a solution. "I know! I'll give you all a tour!"

Kuroko's eyes widened at the prospect of seeing new things. The others in the group looked at the man for a while before deciding that it wouldn't be such a bad idea. But one person was totally against the idea.

"No you won't Takao." Midorima spoke up. "You were chosen to supervise today, remember?"

"Oh yeah..." Takao muttered. He was about to grudgingly drop the matter when he caught the hint of disappointment in the bluenette's eyes. With a grin he decided upon a resolution. "How about they come with us, Shin-chan!"

"What? Why?" A green eyebrow rose, not seeing the point of them attending the ceremony.

"They're going to be here for a while, and..." Takao looked at the group for a second before whispering. "They could use a distraction from...this."

Midorima didn't see his logic. They had let them stay, and agreed to heal their friend, now Takao wanted to give them even more privileges?!

"You already showed them the dining hall, right?" Takao nodded. "Then there's no need for them to see other places of the school."

"You expect them to stay in this section of the school for a whole month?!" The black-haired man accused. "Just let them come, Shin-chan. Do you really want them in here all day?"

Midorima's eye twitched at his friends persistence. He definitely told the man last night about his plans to search the library for those ancient tomes today...

"It's okay if you don't want to, Midorima-san." Kuroko said, drawing the green-haired mans attention to him.

Midorima looked down, appreciating that someone had the right of mind to stop Takao's pressuring, but when he did he froze. Seeing the disheartened look on the boys face and feeling a slight pang of guilt.

_'They will be here for a while...'_ He sighed. Figuring that one day wouldn't interfere with his research.

"I suppose you all can..." He watched as the saddened blue eyes turned hopeful again and quickly looked away, and adjusting his monocle. "Only because it would be problematic for you all to take up this space in the infirmary..."

Takao smiled, excited to spend a little more time with Kuroko and his friends.

"If we want to make it there in time we'll have to leave now." Midorima said.

"Let's go Tet-chan!" The black-haired man said, grabbing the boys hand and leading the way out of the room. As he was pulled along, Kuroko stared at him and tilted his head, wondering why were people calling him weird names. First 'Kurokocchi' and now 'Tet-chan'. Did he have different names in the past..?

Midorima shook his head at the mans actions and followed. Seeing they were going to be left behind, everyone else rose from their places as well and trailed after the three, one red-haired person lagging behind a little.

_'That guy...'_ Kagami glared in the direction of the man who took Kuroko from him. These past acquaintances of Kuroko's were starting to get on his nerves with the way they touched and talked to his friend so familiarly. He was just glad that the green-haired one wasn't as smitten by the bluenette as the others...

He grudgingly caught up with the bluenette and black-haired man and walked on the other side of Kuroko, who sent a smile at him when he felt his friends Rukh near him.

"So, where are we going?" Hyuuga asked.

"The evaluations are being held in the arena outside." Midorima said vaguely.

"An arena?" Kagami raised a brow, not expecting such actions from a magic school. "You let the students fight each other?"

"Sometimes. But, today is an exam day, so there will be no fighting."

"What are exams?" Kuroko asked the man.

"Every month students take these evaluations." Midorima said. "Depending on how much magic potential they show will determine what class they will be sorted to."

_'Is that the class Tsugawa-kun mentioned?'_ Kuroko's interest escalated. He remembered what Tsugawa had said the other day and was curious about what the other meant about the different types of magic.

They continued down the hall until they reached a slip off area with a flight of stairs to the right. Midorima kept walking forward, but Takao finally let go of the bluenette's hand and headed towards them.

"Well, I have to go this way. See you all later!" Takao announced, waving and disappearing down a flight of stairs.

"Where's he going?" Kagami asked. Not that he was complaining about the man relinquishing his grip on Kuroko, but he thought they were all going to the same place.

"There are two entrances to the arena. We are going to the stands to watch, while Takao and the other teachers need to go to the ground floor to administer the test."

They all nodded in understanding and continued to follow the man until they reached a door. Midorima opened it and Kuroko squinted against the brightness of the sun that streamed through the doorway.

When their eyes adjusted to the light, they all stared at the area around them with wide eyes. Unlike the hallways, this place was anything but empty. There were at least hundreds of people wearing similar robes and other strange clothing seated on the many benches that lined the outer edges of the arena.

"There are this many people in the school?" Izuki asked, shocked by the sheer number of people.

"Some of these people are civilians that come to watch the evaluations." Midorima said, walking through the crowd of people, stopping when he realized they were all too astounded to notice him leaving. "Are you coming?"

Snapping from their stupor, they quickly caught up. Kuroko made sure to stick even closer to Kagami as best he could since there were so many people around.

Eventually they came upon a boxed off area where two people were sitting. The man with black hair was one they recognized from the time they first entered the building and the other one had long blonde hair.

Midorima sat down beside the blonde one and the rest of them, seeing that this was their destination sat on the empty parts of the seats.

"This is Otsubo Taisuke and Kiyoshi Miyaji." He introduced the two.

"It's nice to meet you. We are-."

"The group from Seirin..." The blonde one finished off.

"Yeah." Hyuuga said. Had Midorima informed everyone about their coming here?

"You all better not cause any trouble here." Miyaji said and sent them a glare before turning away. They just met the man and he was acting this way..?

Riko felt her irritation growing from the continual disregard they were getting from these people. Was it so hard to act civil?!

"Calm down Riko." Hyuuga said, seeing the bench starting to splinter where the brunette was gripping it.

"I. Am. Calm." She said, with a painfully forced looking smile.

"Please refrain from damaging the school..." Midorima mumbled, casting the irate woman a glance.

Sighing to calm herself down, the brunette turned her attention to the activities that were happening below. Seeing many students just standing there in two uniform lines.

"What are they doing?" Riko asked.

"When they get called up by Takao and Kimura they will demonstrate their strongest spell, and depending on their skills, they will be sorted into different ranks. 6 being the lowest and 1 being the highest."

While Midorima was explaining Kuroko looked at the many people in black robes that were standing in the middle of the 'arena'. Eventually his eyes landed on the podium in the center and he saw Takao standing behind it. Next to him was a man with short black hair.

He wanted to wave to Takao, but he doubted the man would see him in the middle of this whole crowd.

Nothing happened for a minute or two as they got ready. When everything was set, the back-haired man began the examinations.

"We will now begin the Kodor Exam." Takao shouted, causing everyone in the audience to quiet down almost immediately and direct their attention to the ground below.

The group were surprised by the professionalism the man used. It was so unlike his cheerful self. But, it wasn't a surprise to Midorima or the other teachers. Say what you want about Sure Takao was easy-going and lenient about some things, but when he had a job to do he took it seriously.

Takao and Kimura called up some students and they stood beside weird circles on the ground before waving the staffs in their hands. Kuroko watched with wide eyes as the empty space was replaced with an orb of fire and he realized that Tsugawa had been right about turning the Rukh into fire and other spells. He wanted to learn how to do tricks like these and show them to the Furihata and the others!

"Sixth Kodor." Takao replied at the same time Kimura announced. "Fifth Kodor."

"So, I'm guessing they didn't do good?" Izuki asked, noticing the high numbers they received.

Midorima nodded in confirmation.

Minutes later, everything was going well and when the bluenette heard the name of the person he met yesterday he got smiled.

"Tsugawa Tomoki."

"Kagami-kun, it's Tsugawa-kun." Kuroko said, smiling at the familiar person below. Kagami however had different feelings for the teen and scowled.

"Yeah..." He watched as the student stood in front of the array on the ground with an excited posture before pointing his staff at it and summoning the magic.

A much smaller fireball appeared and Kagami watched with guilty satisfaction as the obnoxious smile was replaced with a frown.

"Pffft..." Kagami couldn't keep in the laugh that escaped from his mouth. That brat had been so rude and cocky the other day that he couldn't help but feel a little happy that he was the one being embarrassed now.

"Sixth Kodor." Takao said with a smile. Tsugawa's shoulders slumped and he walked back into the line.

Kuroko didn't know why it got such a bad grade. Tsugawa had done more than he could and yet got sent so low... he couldn't help but feel bad for the shaved haired teen.

"Kamata Akio." Takao called out and a smug looking light brown-haired teen stood forward.

"Kamata Aito." Kimura called, and a person with similar features to the other went up to the man.

"Why are there two of them, Kagami-kun?" Kuroko asked the red-head, who looked in the direction the bluenette was to see what he was talking about.

"Oh, they're just twins." Kagami said, seeing the people the blue-haired boy was referring to.

"What's a...twin?" Kuroko asked as the two of them produced a medium-sized fireball before Takao announce that they would be in 4th Kodor.

"Well..." Kagami scratched the back of his head, thinking of a way to explain. "Twins are people who look alike. Not always though..."

Midorima raised a brow at the lame explanation, but kept quiet and focused on the exam.

Everything was going well, and Midorima was starting to think that the fortune he received today wasn't going to occur here.

There was only one student remaining. He had brown hair and eyes and seemed to have a very timid posture. The students around him looked disinterested at the teen. They didn't believe for a second that he could do anything higher than sixth Kodor. But they were proved wrong when he received one of the highest marks so far despite his weak appearance.

"Third Kodor." Takao said, handing the student a metal, who shyly accepted it before heading back in to line.

"That's all?" Kagami asked, seeing it was the last of the people.

"Yes, Takao just needs to announce the results then it's over." Otsubo said.

Kuroko watched as there seemed to be an argument between the student who had just passed his exam and one of the 'twins'. It seemed to be a simple argument, but when their faces changed from mocking to angered, Kuroko could feel something was wrong.

"Midorima-san..?" He tried to warn the man when he saw the Rukh starting to move differently. But, a moment later, the Rukh gathered at the end of the amplifier one of the twins had in his hand before a strange blue flame came out of it and towards the student.

The brown-haired teen tried to produce a shield at the sudden attack, but was a second too late when the blue fire caught on his sleeve and slowly started to travel up.

"Holy..." Kagami stared at the scene in shock.

Takao immediately muttered a spell to stop the fast spreading fire and then set to healing the burns on the students skin. He had been ready for something to happen, since even if Midorima's accusations about fortunes was suspicious, they did seem to come true more than not, but he hadn't expected one of the students to use such a spell...

"I trust that you'll all be able to make it back to your rooms yourself." Midorima said before he and the other two teachers headed to the center of the structure to deal with the students responsible.

"That was..." Hyuuga hadn't expecting things to escalate that quickly. And he was once again reminded how powerful magicians were.

The entire audience was shocked by the disturbance the two boys had caused. But none more than the blue-haired boy who had seen something entirely different...something worse...

However, during all the commotion no one was aware of the boys inner turmoil except Kagami who was only alerted when the boy spoke.

"Blue...flames..." He heard Kuroko's voice whisper from beside him. It wasn't the words that made him look over, but the tone of voice the boy had used while saying it.

When he saw the state the bluenette was in he froze. Kuroko was sitting on the bench in a rigid position, hands gripping the edge of the seat tightly and slightly glazed blue eyes staring forward. But what affected him most was the trail of wetness flowing down Kuroko's pale cheeks. He'd never seen the boy cry before... and it hurt to see him like this.

"Kuroko?" Kagami said. Kuroko made no indication of hearing him, so he spoke louder and put a hand on the bluenette's shoulder. "Kuroko!"

"I-I'm sorry, Kagami-kun." Kuroko said, voice shaking. He hadn't heard his friend calling him before...

"What's the matter?" Blue eyes stared up at his friend for a while before the owner of them answered in such a distress voice.

"I...don't know." The confusion was evident on the boys face that Kagami pulled the boy into a hug, ignoring the fact that others were looking.

Kuroko sighed and even though his friends Rukh was comforting, he still couldn't shake the images from his head.

"Are you both ready to go?" Riko asked.

Kagami looked up and saw that the others of the group had stood already and were getting ready to leave. He reluctantly unraveled his arms from around the bluenette and stood, keeping a comforting arm draped over the boys shoulder to reassure him.

"Yeah..." He responded. When Riko nodded and started walking he kept the firm but gentle hold on Kuroko while he steered him through the crowd, wondering what could have happened...

* * *

After the whole incident was cleared up and people started exiting the stands, the group made their way back to their respective rooms. Unlike the excited walk towards the arena, the trek back was sullen.

Their blue-haired Magi was silent and withdrawn for the walk back and despite Izuki's, Mitobe's and Kagami's attempts to cheer him up, nothing worked. It was weird seeing the cheerful boy this sad...

"What happened to him?" Riko asked, watching as the boy went into his and Kagami's room without a sound.

Kagami shook his head sadly. He didnt' know, and felt horrible at the fact he didn't.

"Well, let us know if you find anything out, okay?" Riko said, going into her own room.

Kagami went inside of the room and shut the door behind him. He hoped he'd feel better once they were alone, but the way Kuroko was sitting on the bed with the same far away look in his eyes was disheartening.

"You sure you're alright, Kuroko?" Kagami asked. The boy had been awfully quiet since the 'Kodor Exam', and it was starting to worry him.

"Yes, I'm fine, Kagami-kun." Kuroko said.

Kagami wasn't fooled one bit by the statement. He had grown used to Kuroko's behavior over the time he'd been with him and something was definitely off. But, as he was about to ask, a knock sounded from the other side of the door.

_'Who?'_ Had Riko changed her mind and decided to find out herself..? Kagami wouldn't put it past her since she did seem like the type to do that.

Casting the bluenette a last look he headed for the door and opened it. But, he wasn't met with the brown hair that belonged to the Fanalis. Instead it was the dark green hair of the headmaster.

_'They finished that up quickly.' _He commented.

"What are you doing here?" Kagami asked Midorima.

"I'm here to speak to Kuroko." The green-haired man said. "Alone..."

Kagami did nothing. He didn't want to leave Kuroko alone when he was like this... When the red-head made no move to show it was okay, Midorima sighed and elaborated.

"I need more information about what he remembers in order to do more in-depth research on what happened." He explained.

Midorima saw the red-head glance back towards the bed, before speaking.

"I don't think he's up for it right now." Kagami said lowly.

"What do you mean?" The bluenette seemed fine to him before he left to take care of things.

"I don't know, he won't talk about it. Something happened to him when he saw that kid get hurt I guess."

Despite Midorima's supposed reluctant acceptance of the boy, he found himself worrying for him. But, he definitely wouldn't admit it to this moron...

"It will just be a moment." He persisted.

"I'll be right outside, okay Kuroko?" The red-head said. When he received a nod he left the room with one glance back at the two before closing the door.

Now that Kagami was gone, Midorima focused his attention to Kuroko. The boy was sitting on the bed closest to the door with his knees pulled to his chest and a darkened look in his eyes as if he were deeply contemplating something. Even when the bluenette had his memories, they had never really spent much time alone together. Clearing his throat, and pushing aside his discomfort, he started.

"Kagami said something...happened to you." He started lamely.

The bluenette looked up at the man, giving him a better look at his face. It was so different from the carefree look he had on it earlier today.

"Do you, uh, want to talk about it..?" He asked, sitting on the edge of the bed stiffly.

Kuroko slowly shook his head. He didn't mean to be rude, but he really didn't feel up to it...

"Is it about what happened today in the arena?" Midorima asked. He knew this wasn't only about what the boy had witnessed today, sure the accident had been unexpected, but Takao had managed to put out the fire within seconds and the student's arm had been completely healed afterwards.

"I..." Kuroko paused. "I saw something..."

_'Saw something..?'_ Midorima raised a brow at the answer. "What'd you see?"

The bluenette was reminded of what he saw at the arena...

_A tanned teen standing in front of blue fire._

_The person waved a weapon and more flames shot out._

_Someone shouting for the person to stop but being ignored._

_Multiple unmistakenable human figures of different sizes, covered by the flames followed by screams of horror and pain._

Almost as soon as they started, the flashes had stopped. It wasn't as long as the other thing he saw that day at Seirin. But, even if it had been nothing but flashes, Kuroko could see that the scene had been a horrible one.

"Kuroko?" Midorima asked, making the bluenette snap from his thoughts. He then remembered that the man had asked him a question.

"A tanned person... He was... There were so many blue flames around and people were hurt..."

The green-haired man stared at the boy for a moment before it clicked. Kuroko claiming he saw images, and his reaction to seeing the blue colored flames. _'Could he be remembering events on his own..?'_

"Have you seen anything else?"

Kuroko thought back, and remembered the time he had seen the same person before.

"One time in Seirin. We were playing peachball and that person was there."

"Hm..." Midorima narrowed his eyes in contemplation. A memory of peachball and one of flames... It seemed that the memories weren't constant with one another since the gap in time was huge. And because Kuroko didn't recognize the person in them he assumed that they only showed the boy what happened, rather than giving him clarity of the situations. It wasn't unusual for memories to come back this way, but it was worrisome that the bluenette would have no idea how to process such images.

"What were those blue flames?" The boy asked. When he saw them before, they felt both familiar to him and dangerous. He didn't know what to feel about them.

"Blue flames are said to be the strongest type of fire. The heat produced from it outweighs that of orange flames." Midorima explained."The only person you could have known in the past who used that power is Aomine."

_'Aomine...'_ Then that tanned man he saw in the daydreams he had was the same one Kise had mentioned before. He was glad that he finally could place the name with someone, even if he could never see the persons face clearly in the visions. Kise had said that he and Aomine were close in the past, but if he really was the same person they were talking about, then why did he feel so sad just thinking about him..? And why had he hurt all those people?

Kuroko was just even more confused now than before.

"Have you ever tried magic before, Kuroko?" Midorima asked.

"Only spheres." He answered, confused as to why the man had suddenly changed the conversation. "Tsugawa-kun said there were different types of magic, but I couldn't do it..."

_'Ah...'_ If that was all the bluenette knew about magic, then it was no wonder how the events of today and the memories may have caused him to react this way...

"Maybe if you were to learn how to do magic, you'd understand."

The bluenette shook his head adamantly at the suggestion. After everything that he's seen with magic, he didn't think he wanted to learn it anymore. So far just using the shields were useful and he didn't want to harm anyone like Kise, the twins and Aomine had...

_'So troublesome.' _The man thought. He wasn't good at this sort of stuff. Usually this was something that Takao would handle.

However, it wouldn't do for a Magi to be afraid of such things, but Kuroko always was different from normal people. He had such an earnest nature about him and genuinely cared for people's safety, be it enemy or friend. But, this was the way the world was. Total peace was just an illusion and he needed to understand, especially with the road ahead of both him and Kagami.

"What if Kagami was in danger?" Midorima asked, feeling bad about using this method to make the boy see sense, but knowing it had to be done.

"I'd use the Rukh to shield him from it." The blue-haired boy said bluntly.

"And if that shield were to break..? Magoi shields may be able to block physical attacks efficiently, but if someone were to use a powerful Djinn weapon or a high enough spell like the flames you saw before then there would be no chance of it staying intact."

Kuroko listened to the words and thought about what would happen if that were true. If the shields became useless, then he wouldn't have any way to help Kagami, just like in the dungeon when he couldn't produce enough Rukh to stop that monster from hurting his friend. Even if Ogiwara had saved him, he didn't like the feeling he had when he could do nothing but watch as it had lunged towards the red-head.

"I'd want to help Kagami-kun still." Kuroko said.

"That's why people need to learn magic such as the ones you saw today. Sometimes people want to... protect others." Midorima said, remembering the words that the very same person had said to him years ago when they first met.

_'Protect...'_ Kuroko thought about it and remembered the day when they first met Riko and the rest of Seirin. How the brunette was about to hurt Kagami and he had stopped her. And when Kise attacked Kagami with those yellow lights, he saw how much the red-head had been hurt. He wanted to help his red-haired friend, but did he really want to hurt others in the process..? He didn't know if he could do what Kise had done to someone...

"I don't want to hurt anyone." The bluenette whispered.

"Not all magic will harm people. It just depends on how you use it." Kuroko still looked dubious, so he continued. "What you did to help your friend in the infirmary was called life magic. That type of magic can create life. Be it animals, or other life forms. Some use it for evil to create monsters, but you yourself chose to use it to save someone. Magic depends solely on the person wielding it."

The bluenette took the information in. Kagami had done so much for him and if what Midorima said was true, that he could save someone without having anyone hurt then...

_'If I can get better at magic, then I can protect Kagami-kun.'_ He wanted to help his friend and protect him just as he had done for him!

"Can I learn magic too, Midorima-san?" Kuroko asked, eyes hopeful.

"Well, I suppose you can... It's not easy though." Midorima looked down to see the boys reaction at the news, but when he saw he wasn't dissuaded by it he allowed a small smile to come onto his face.

_'Just like before...' _He let out a little chuckle. Kuroko never ceased to amaze him, even with amnesia and lack of experience, he still had such a strong resolution to help his friends. He didn't know what the blue-haired boy saw in the red-head, but it would be good if at least one of them was competent...

"I shall see what I can do." Midorima said. There were other matters to see to if the blue-haired boy were to enter the academy with so little time left.

"Thank you, Midorima-san." Kuroko gave the man a grateful smile.

"I-It is nothing, Kuroko." Midorima said awkwardly, not used to being shown so much gratitude, especially from the usually emotionless person he knew.

"W-Well, I've got to get going now. Make sure you get some sleep." He wanted to get some questioning done today, but he decided to not do it since he recieved even more valuable information and even if Kuroko was feeling better now, he didn't want to push it.

"Ah, yes." The bluenette agreed. He stared at the boy for a moment before reaching down and patting his head.

Midorima got up from his spot on the bed and headed for the door. With a final nod he opened it and exited the room, giving the red-head who was standing outside a glance before going on his way.

Kagami glared at the mans back for a moment, assuming Midorima had questioned his friend despite his off mood. But when he walked inside of the room and saw the difference in the bluenette's mood, he wondered what the man had done.

"Feeling better?" Kagami asked.

"Yes." Kuroko replied. The talk with Midorima had really helped, and he couldn't wait to learn how to get strong enough to help his friend.

Kagami was a little disappointed that he hadn't been the one to do so, but glad nonetheless that he was feeling better.

With the excitement and worry of the day Kuroko was unable to stop the yawn that left his mouth. Kagami looked from his spot near the door towards the bluenette and saw the sleepy state he was in, remembering how tired the boy was in the morning he figured that by now the other must be exhausted.

"You should sleep." He said, walking up to the bed and situating his friend underneath the covers.

"But..." Kuroko didn't want to sleep without his friend...

"I'll be right here." Kagami promised, patting the boys hair and sitting on the bed by the window. Even if he could go somewhere, he would never leave the bluenette alone.

Reluctantly nodding, Kuroko complied and laid back down.

Seeing the bluenette's eyes shut, Kagami leaned back against the pillow and sighed. It had been an eventful day... After a few minutes of silence, he felt eyes on him and turned around to look in the direction, catching sight of blue eyes before they closed again.

_'He didn't sleep...'_ A minute or two later when the looks persisted, Kagami decided to speak up.

"I know you're awake, Kuroko." He said, looking straight at the boy as one eye peeked open.

He could guess what the other wanted just from the looks he was getting and let out a laugh. Kuroko was too adorable... And although he was surprised the first few times he had woke up to find the bluenette in his bed, he was used to it. Pulling up the sheets of his own bed, Kagami motioned for Kuroko to come.

"Come on..." Kagami said. Smiling in amusement when the bluenette immediately got up from the bed and joined him in his own.

"Going to sleep now?" He asked when Kuroko stopped moving and laid down still beside him.

"Yes." Kuroko said, smiling up at him. "Kagami-kun?"

"Hm?" A red eye opened and looked at the other. Seeing half lidded blue eyes staring at him. The boy was clearly tired, so why wasn't he sleeping?

"Thank you..." Came the soft reply as Kuroko finally dozed off.

Kagami blushed at the sincereness that the bluenette had said it with, even the tired tone didn't lessen it a bit. He smiled and patted the boys blue locks and laid down as well, facing Kuroko.

He still didn't know what caused his episode today, but Kagami knew one thing for sure. He never wanted to see such a kind and innocent face like his. Whatever happened back then had obviously effected him more than he let on, and he felt so helpless not knowing what caused it. He wanted to know more about Kuroko, what made him happy to see him smile more, and what made him sad to prevent things from happening...

As he stared down at the peaceful look on the sleeping boys face, he promised himself to do whatever he could to make it so it'd never happen again.

* * *

**A/N 3: **Anyone know who the twins are? =) Just so you know, they didn't have names in the manga so the Akio and Aito are ones I made up for them. XD


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: **Thank you all for the reviews! Puncakegoddess, clarit, Raezthie, Killua17, Guest, deLovelyBones, and Akatsuki1210! :D

**A/N 2:** The class part is similar to the Magi anime/manga with a few changes. =) And I tried to add more fluff in this chapter! XD

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or Magi.**

* * *

**Chaper 9**

* * *

_**The Room**_

Ogiwara paced nervously across the golden bricked stone on the floor as he waited for the meeting with the other Djinn to begin. Djinn having meetings every few years or so was common, but this wasn't a regular meeting. Ogiwara himself had called for it. After hearing Kuroko's talk with Midorima, he knew it was necessary, but even so it had taken him hours to finally decide to act upon his troubles.

His hesitance was because all meetings had to be attended by the head of the Djinn and although he liked the guy, he was very strict when it came to the order of things.

_'No, it's necessary to help Kuroko.'_ He tried to convince himself. Even though Midorima had helped and averted too much damage, the fact was that Kuroko was suffering once again because of that King of Touou. He wanted those memories to stay buried, but once again that man had an affect on the boy even after his second chance at life...

"Hello Shigehiro-kun." Ogiwara stopped in his pacing when he heard the familiar kind voice of the old Djinn.

"Hey Takeda!" Ogiwara greeted.

"I heard you were the one in charge of the dungeon that Kuroko went into this time. And you allowed that guy to have some of your powers." Ogiwara grinned. He found out about it after having to leave when he rescued Kuroko and Kagami from that monster.

"Haha yes. He was interesting to say the least." Takeda said. Even if he didn't present his physical body until they reached the end of the dungeon, he had been watching everything and the red-head had definitely amused him with his perseverence to save the young Magi.

"Why haven't you made yourself known to him?" Ogiwara asked. Djinn could still communicate with their owners when they wanted to without being summoned. Just as Ogiwara had done during Kuroko's conversation.

"As much as I wish to, he has much to learn before he can fully wield the fire power."

"Hm. Is the new King that weak?" A voice came from behind them. Turning around they both saw the Djinn of Kaijo walking towards them. "If that's the case, why bother even allowing him to clear the dungeon?"

"You shouldn't judge people without knowing them, Takeuchi!" Ogiwara said. Kuroko had chosen Kagami to be his King, so he wouldn't let the man down his friends decisions.

"Yeah, yeah. Why isn't Katsunori here?" Takeuchi asked, seeing the man wasn't present.

"I didn't invite him..." Ogiwara said, frowning. That guys master had hurt his friend and he wasn't too happy to see him.

"That's no good, Shigehiro-kun." Takeda reprimanded lightly. "It's not Katsunori's fault everything happened."

"But, he should've helped Kuroko!" The orange-haired Djinn said stubbornly. He knew that, but he couldn't help his anger towards the whole group of people who had disregarded his friends feelings.

"You know he couldn't do that, Shigehiro." A man said to his right. He had black hair and stern gray eyes.

Ogiwara froze at the sound of the head Djinn's voice. He hadn't realized he was here before... Then again, the man was always quiet when not discussing things.

"Hey Nijimura." Ogiwara grinned at the head Djinn, who nodded in greeting.

"Why are we all here anyway?" Takeuchi asked, sitting down on the stairs in a bored way.

"It's about Kuroko..." Ogiwara started.

_'The new Magi?' _Takeuchi and Nijimura wondered. Had something happened?

"What do you mean?"

"He is... regaining his memories." He finished, causing the usually calm head Djinn to stare at him in shock.

"But, that's impossible..." Nijimura said, frowning at the news. For a Magi to remember their past was something unheard of...

"I heard it as well." Takeda said, remembering the words he heard through the doorway when his red-haired contractor was stading outside of it. He may be old, but Djinn's had naturally heightened senses, so even though a human couldn't hear the words between the two, he had. "He remembers things that didn't happen in this lifetime."

Nijimura frowned. This news was unsettling. He heard of only one occurance of this in the past and it hadn't led to good things... Humans dwelled on things of the past and for them to remember the Magi would cause trouble.

"Did you do something during the rebirthing process?" Takeuchi accused, turning his attention to the youngest in the room.

"I didn't do anything out of the ordinary." Ogiwara said, raising his hands in the air in a defensive way to block out the looks being send his way.

When he did this the teen saw Takeda look at his bare wrist and give him a knowing smile. Ogiwara quickly brought his arm down and hid it behind his back.

"Perhaps we shouldn't have allowed you to handle the duty with someone you were once close with, Shigehiro." Nijimura said. Everyone knew how friendly the orange-head was, but he was even more so when it involved the blue-haired Magi.

"Come now, Shuzo. It's not Shigehiro-kun's fault. The regeneration process went as it should. When I saw him in the dungeon the boy looked exactly as he had four years ago, so the Rukh extraction was indeed successful." Takeda provided.

Nijimura looked towards the elder Djinn, when he saw no signs of a lie he reluctantly accepted the information and sent Ogiwara an apologetic look. But even if it wasn't his fault, it still left the problems even more unresolved.

"Then please explain as to why he is getting his memories back." Nijimura asked.

"Rukh works in mysterious ways Shuzo. They are a force of their own, living souls of previously decease life forms. Something out of the ordinary was bound to happen." Takeda said.

"What do we do about it?" Takeuchi asked.

"Perhaps we should restart the process..." The black-haired Djinn muttered. It was too risky to allow this to go on.

Ogiwara froze at the suggestion, knowing what the man meant. Reverse everything and start over from scratch. If they did that, then the memories Kuroko had of Aomine and the others would disappear, but so would the ones of Kagami and the others he had meet. As much as he didn't want his friend to remember anything of the past, he knew how influential the red-head had been on him. He finally saw the blunette smile again, something he hadn't seen in a while. He couldn't let all that be ruined...

"It may be too late for that anyway." Takeda said. "Even if you do, it won't change the fact that the King's from Kuroko-kun's past will remember him. The blonde and green-haired leaders have been in contact with him."

Nijimura turned his attention to Takeuchi for confirmation on his part.

"Yeah, Kise knows." He muttered, remembering the constant babble the King had making since being dragged away from the blue-haired boy. It was annoying...

_'They remember him as well..?'_ It couldn't get any worse than this...

"It seems that not only does the person in charge of Shutoku know about this, but he's also trying to make the boy remember more of his past." The gray-haired Djinn said.

_'Great...'_ The black-haired Djinn thought. Not only does Genta's King know about his existence, but so does that Shutoku headmaster. Nijimura knew from past meetings he had attended with his own King and the green-haired man. He was persistent and craved for knowing the unknown. And if what Takeda said was true, then he would no doubt investigate further into a world he had no business looking into.

"This hasn't happened in all the years I've been in charge..." The man said with a sigh.

"Genta, if possible see what you can do from your end." Nijimura instructed. The Kaijo Djinn nodded and disappeared.

"Kenji, you just focus on your new King. There is much to do is there not?"

"Yes, he seems to have strength, but lacks experience." The older man said, smiling despite the words he had said. Even if the red-head was inexperienced, he saw something in him that could overcome that in time.

"W-What about me..?" Ogiwara asked hesitantly, receiving a cool gray eyed glance in his direction.

"You may continue looking after the Magi, Shigehiro. But, do not intervene more than necessary." Nijimura said. Ogiwara looked at him in confusion, wondering why he would allow him to do so after all the problems that had been cause supposedly by himself. "You have a bond with him, do you not?"

_'How'd he know?!'_ The orange-haired Djinn shouted in his mind.

"Did you honestly think I didn't notice your missing bracelet..?" He asked, raising a brow.

"Well...no..." Ogiwara said smiling nervously and rubbing the back of his head.

"Although I do not approve of you doing something like that against protocol, I admire the fact you did so. If you had not, then things may have been worse." He commended the younger, who grinned. "I'll be awaiting any news you have so don't hesitate to call for a meeting again, alright?"

"I'll do my best!" He shouted loudly, making the man chuckle at his enthusiasm.

"Well, I must head back. Seijuro is calling." The black-haired Djinn bid farwell and teleported out of the room, leaving Takeda and Ogiwara alone.

_'Why can't Kuroko just be in peace..?' _Ogiwara thought sadly. He really deserved to be happy, and bad things just kept happening...

"Well, Shigehiro-kun. Maybe I'll see you again soon." Takeda said. They were after all both in charge of people who were of the same Kingdom, or rather soon to be Kingdom.

"Yeah." He then remembered what the older man had done for him at the beginning of the meeting. Even if the head Djinn had found out about it anyway, Takeda hadn't called him out when Ogiwara had unknowingly showed off his missing piece of jewelry. "And thanks for not telling Nijimura about what I did."

"You're welcome. At first in the dungeon I wondered why you would risk so much to give it to him. But after seeing the Magi I can see why." Takeda said, remembering the pure and caring young boy. It was obvious why someone would take a chance to make sure he was okay. "Just be sure to answer his call the next time." With that, the gray-haired man left.

Ogiwara frowned. He hadn't meant to ignore the bluenette's call, but at that time he didn't think Takeda had known about him giving Kuroko the bracelet and he didn't want to make his presence known in from of the elder Djinn...

With a sigh, the orange-head plopped down and the ground. He hoped Kuroko wouldn't remember anymore unpleasant memories... Then again, with Kagami around, Ogiwara had no doubt that even if the boy did, the red-head would do whatever he could to help him.

* * *

_**Shutoku Academy**_

"Alright, that should do it." Nakatani said to the group of people who were sitting or standing beside the infirmary bed.

Everyone in the room watched as the man took the empty vial away from Kiyoshi's mouth and stepped away. After two days of working on the cure for Kiyoshi, the potions teacher had finally been able to finish the liquid that would help their friend.

"That's all?" Hyuuga asked. He hadn't expected their friends condition to immediately change, but he thought that at least something would've happened to indicate that Kiyoshi was getting better. Even Kuroko couldn't see any difference in the mans Rukh after the man gave him that weird-looking liquid.

"Yes, as I said the other day, it will take time for the potion to work." Nakatani said. "All he needs now is rest for the next few weeks and the poison should be completely expelled from his body."

It was unbelievable that after all of these weeks of searching and trying to track down Hanamiya and his underlings for a cure had done nothing, but within such a short time the man had been able to create something to help him.

"Thank you." Izuki said. The rest of the group sent him appreciative looks.

"It's no problem at all." The man said. He looked at them all with a curious gaze before asking the question that was on his mind when he first diagnosed their friend. "If you don't mind me asking, why did Hanamiya do this to him?"

_'How'd they know it was him..?'_ Had Takao told them about the slip-up Hyuuga made that day before the dinner? Riko could see Koganei about to open his mouth and motioned for him to keep quiet before speaking.

"Who said he did it..?" Riko asked suspiciously.

"It's obvious it was him." Midorima spoke up from his position near the doorway. "Just admit it."

"There's nothing to admi-." Hyuuga started, glaring at the man.

"There are only a few places that this type of plant comes from and Kirisaki is the one of them." Midorima said. "Moreover, the spell that was cast on him indicated that only Kuroko and one of the people who works under Hanamiya would have been capable of doing it. And since I'm fairly sure that Kuroko didn't, then that leaves the latter."

Seeing no way to deny the claims, Riko offered the bare minimum of what happened.

"We went to Kirisaki, Kiyoshi went to talk with Hanamiya and then he was like this."

"That's all..?" Green eyes narrowed at the brunette.

"Yes." Riko said, returning the look. Even to her the explanation sounded weak, but she refused to tell them about their business in Kirisaki unless it was completely necessary. And other than that, they still had no idea what had caused the man to hurt their friend besides being just plain wicked.

"It's fine if you don't want to tell us, right Shin-chan?" Takao said, trying to break the tense atmosphere between the two.

Midorima and Riko stayed silent, and a moment later both of them broke eye contact, dropping the argument.

"Anyway...We have good news for you Tet-chan." Said boy turned his attention away from the brown-haired man on the bed and towards Takao.

"Tahdah!" He said, holding up a piece of black clothing and handing it to the boy.

Kuroko looked at the object with confusion. What was it..?

"It's your robe!" Takao answered the unasked question when he didn't get the response he had been expecting.

Kuroko's eyes widened, finally realizing what the other meant. He looked back at the clothing with a small smile.

"Why does he need a robe..?" Kagami asked suspiciously. He had a bad feeling that he already knew the answer...

"He's going to take classes to learn magic." Midorima said.

The other members of the group looked at the bluenette in shock. Sure he had used magic on occasions, but he never seemed to care much for getting power. However, from the lack of surprise on the boys face when Midorima mentioned him taking classes, they could only assume that he had been aware of this before the Shutoku headmaster's announced it.

"You're taking classes, Kuroko?" Kagami asked, raising a brow.

"Yes, Midorima-san said I could." The bluenette responded.

"Good for you, Kuroko-kun." Riko said smiling and patting the boy's head. Mitobe smiled and nodded as well.

"Ahh! I wish I could use magic!" Koganei shouted. After seeing all those magicians yesterday, he had to admit he was a little jealous at what they could do...

"Come, you can get changed in your rooms. Then we can head down!" Takao said. "You can come too Kagami." He said, noticing the look the other was sending the blue-haired boy. Really, this new person amused him...

"I'll be going as well." Nakatani said. Now that his job was done, he had to get back to his classes too. They gave the man acknowledging nods and thankful glances once again and he left.

Kuroko looked hesitant about leaving the man in the room, and the brown-haired Fanalis noticed the looks he was sending to her ailing friend.

"Go ahead, we'll just be here." Riko assured. "Besides, I don't think Hyuuga will want to leave anyway."

Kuroko gave a small nod and bowed. The four of them exited the infirmary and went to the door across the hall. Once there, Midorima explained a few things.

"We placed you in Sixth Kodor because you have no experience with elemental magic." Midorima said. "And we informed your teacher about your late arrival."

"I'm sorry I caused Midorima-san and Takao-san so much trouble." The bluenette said. He didn't know so much preparation had to be done to get into classes...

"Haha, it's no problem, the robe is the old one you used to wear, so it was easy to get it. Besides, the new classes started a day ago, so there wasn't much of a difference."

Kuroko nodded, still feeing a little guilty though. Takao patted his head and pulled out a thin piece of rope.

"Tie this around your waist, okay Tet-chan?" The bluenette was a little smaller than he was when he first started taking classes.

"We'll wait outside." Takao said, smiling and exiting the room.

Midorima went to follow, but Kagami stopped him by placing a hand on the mans elbow, effectively stopping him from advancing. A green eyebrow rose in irritation as the man looked at the offending hand and then back to the owner of it.

"Are you making him do this?" Kagami asked, eyes narrowing at the man in front of him. Was this what the man had talked about in the room yesterday behind his back? Tricked his friend into accepting lessons?

"No, Kuroko said he wanted to do this." Midorima said, receiving a shocked look from the red-head. "It's because of you afterall."

With that Midorima left, leaving Kagami standing there to process what he said.

_'Kuroko's doing this because of me..?'_ Was it because of his failure during the dungeon that the boy felt the need to get stronger..? Maybe Kuroko realized his inability to protect them both..? He felt disappointment swell inside of him, remembering the many close calls they've had. It only made sense...

_'No.'_ Kagami thought. Kuroko wasn't the type of person to look down on someone. He then remembered the lack of hesitance in the mans voice as he spoke the words and couldn't help but wonder if he was telling the truth about it being Kuroko's own decision.

"That guy..." Kagami grumbled shutting the door. With a sigh he turned around and froze at the sight that greeted him.

Kuroko was still in the same spot he was at before the two men left, but that was about the only thing that was the same. Gone was the usual attire the bluenette, giving Kagami a full view of the boys bare back and legs. Showing off his slender frame and flawless milky white skin. If he thought the boy was alluring before, seeing him like this was a whole other level...

"K-Kuroko!" Kagami stuttered. "What are you doing?!"

"Changing." Kuroko responded as he stopped his task of picking up the black robe on the ground and turned to face his friend.

Kagami's face turned multiple shades redder as the action gave him a view of Kuroko's smooth and flat stomach.

_'Oh God...' _He never noticed how slender the boy was... Sure when he picked the boy up many times before, he had felt it through his clothes, but feeling it and seeing it was a totally different thing...

"Are you okay, Kagami-kun?" Kuroko asked, seeing the redness of his friends face. Shaking his head to get the thoughts from his mind, Kagami tried to ignore the boys nakedness and hopefully get the boy to get dressed quicker...

"Yeah, I-I'm fine... J-Just cover yourself!" The red-head said.

The bluenette tilted his head to the side, not knowing what made the other say that. Kagami had done the same thing many times before. He looked down at himself and couldn't help but feel self-conscious all of a sudden. Sure, he had noticed the difference in their bodies before and it hadn't really bothered him, but he didn't know that Kagami would react to it this way. Was it because he didn't have the muscles that his friend had..? Was Kagami ashamed of his appearance..?

"Do I...look weird, Kagami-kun?" Kuroko asked, sadly.

_'Huh? Look weird?'_ He couldn't believe Kuroko would even think that! If anything he was too captivating! His pale skin, the way his soft blue locks brush lightly against his slim shoulders and his lean waist...

_'No...don't think of that...'_ He admonished himself. It then registered to him that he had yet to answer the boys question and he mentally scolded himself when he saw the sad blue eyes looking up at him.

"No, you don't look weird. It's just..." He scratched the back of his head. "I just don't want you to catch a cold is all..."

"Ah, yes." Kuroko accepted the answer with a relieved smile.

"J-Just put on the robe." Kagami said, looking away and focusing on something...anything besides the appealing boy in the room.

Kuroko nodded, bending down to pick up the clothing from the floor and doing as told. It was strange at first since he never wore a robe before, but after numerous attempts at finding which holes were for his arms and which was for the head, he finally got it on. Then attached the thing piece of rope that Takao had given him around his waist to make the robe fit better.

"F-Finished?" Kagami asked. He didn't think he could handle turning around and checking for himself...

"Yes." The bluenette confirmed.

Kagami was surprised to see that the robe actually didn't look that bad on him. Instead of looking sophisticated like Midorima's did on him, it looked rather cute, reaching a little past the bluenette's knees and the sleeves stopping a bit further than his elbows.

_'Why does he look cute in anything..?' _Kagami thought to himself. He was slightly worried about it since there seemed to be a lot of male students around here...

"You're sure you want to do this, Kuroko?" Kagami asked. He didn't want to leave the bluenette alone for hours at a time, especially after the events that happened yesterday at the exam and afterwards.

"Yes, Kagami-kun." Kuroko said resolutely. He promised himself to do this, even if he was a little hesitant to leave his friends side for so long...

Kagami nodded and tousled the boy's hair. He really was proud that he made a decision for himself for once, but couldn't help but feel a little saddened as well. A moment later a knock came from the other side of the door followed by Takao's voice.

"You both done in there?"

"Yeah." Kagami said. The door opened and the black-haired man walked inside, stopping when he saw Kuroko.

"Aw! Tet-chan, you look so cute!" He exclaimed. "Oh! And here's your hat." The man put a black hat on Kuroko's had a wide brim and the top of it was slightly pointy.

Kuroko pouted a little at being called cute. He wanted to be cool like Kagami and Midorima... But since the other said it in such a nice way, he settled for thanking the man.

"Thank you Takao-san." Kagami's eye twitched. He should've just said his thoughts... But now if he did then it'll just seem like he's copying the other...

"Where'd Midorima go..?" The red-head asked, not that he totally didn't mind the mans absence.

"Shin-chan left, but I'll take Tet-chan to his class. It's on the way to my own so it'll just be easier." He explained. "Come, classes will start soon."

They both nodded and followed the man out of the room and down the halls. As they turned a corner there was the sound of running footsteps and then something that caused a certain red-haired teen to stop in his tracks.

"Hey! Eyebrows guy!" A loud voice shouted from behind them.

_'Oh god... please don't be him...' _He turned around and cursed when he saw the shaved head of the person approaching. Next to him was the other student with the blonde hair, who had been mostly quiet that day.

"Damn it..." He whispered to himself when he saw that it was indeed the same teens he and Kuroko saw before.

"You know Tsugawa, Kagami?" Takao asked, wondering when he had the time to meet someone since they had only been here for one day.

"He's just some annoying person who Kuroko bumped into the other day..." Kagami grumbled, sending a glare in the direction of the teen, who at that point had caught up.

"Hey, funny meeting you here." Tsugawa grinned at the annoyed looking red-head.

"Yeah..." The other student just smiled at the red-heads sarcasm, which went unnoticed by Tsugawa.

"Where's Kuroko?" The teen asked. For some reason the boy seemed attached to this person with the weird hair. He had stopped because he saw Kagami and expected to see the blue-haired boy with him.

"Hello Tsugawa-kun, Tanimura-kun." Kuroko said. They both jumped a little at the sudden voice.

_'How did I miss him..?'_ Tsugawa had thought the reason he hadn't seen the bluenette before bumping into him the other night was because he had just exited a room or something. But, here he was in plain sight and even noticed.

"Hey Kuroko." He answered, still a little spooked. The teen then noticed the attire of the boy and grinned. "You're taking classes?"

"Yes, Midorima-san said I could." The bluenette replied.

"Awesome! What Kodor?" He asked.

"Sixth." Kuroko said.

"Wow! Same class too!" Tsugawa was glad to know someone who attended the same one as him, but shocked that someone with so much Rukh had only managed to get into the lowest class.

"I know why this moron got into Sixth, but why did you Kuroko-kun?" Tanimura asked. Kuroko was about to answer, but Tsugawa beat him to it with a complaint of his own.

"Yesterday I just wasn't prepared is all! I could've totally gotten into fourth Kodor too if I really tried!" Tsugawa shouted.

"Uh, huh." Came the unbelieving response.

"What...Kodor did Tanimura-kun get in?" Kuroko asked, pausing to remember the word.

"Fourth." The blonde answered, sending a superior smile at Tsugawa. "Unlike someone."

"I told you! It was just a mistake!" The shaved haired teen shouted in his defense.

"Sure, sure."

As the two were arguing Kuroko and Kagami noticed someone approaching them. He had dark-skin and black hair. But the thing that caught their attention the most was the sheer size of him.

_'Tall...'_ Kuroko and Kagami stared with wide eyes at the giant person in front of them who, much to Kagami's annoyance, was taller than the red-head by many inches. Usually he was taller than most, only a few people outmatched him by an inch or two, but now seeing this guy, he knew how Kuroko felt about height differences...

Tanimura, noticing the astounded looks on their faces, turned around and saw his the person that caused them to make such an expression. With a short chuckle he introduced him.

"Oh Kuroko-kun, this is our other friend we mentioned. Papa Mbaye Siki. We just call him Papa for short though." Tanimura said. He put his hands on the bluenette's shoulders to get him to move closer. "Papa, this is Kuroko Tetsuya."

"Huh... This is the kid you both were talking about?" The dark-skinned teen asked, looking down at the blue-haired boy with an unimpressed look. "He doesn't look like much."

"I-It's a pleasure to meet you, Papa-kun." Kuroko said, snapping from his amazement at the sound of the teens voice. Kagami just glared at him for insulting the bluenette.

"Hm..." Papa narrowed his eyes and looked down. A few seconds later the teen bent down and picked up the bluenette, making Kagami immediately go into overprotective mode.

"What do you think you're doing, you bastard?!" Kagami yelled.

"He's too short. If I look down there too far my neck will hurt, so it's easier this way." Papa replied, making no move to lower the person in his hands.

"Haha. Maybe you should put him down, Papa." Takao said. Papa frowned, but put the bluenette back to the floor. "And you should all be going right? Class begins any minute now."

Tsugawa froze at the reminder. Everyone knew how strict and harsh the Sixth Kodor teacher was. He had personally found out the other day when the man had threatened all of them. They had to get there now!

"Come on Kuroko! We have to go!"

"Eh?" Was all Kuroko could say as the overzealous teen grabbed his hand and practically dragged him with him towards the direction of the classroom.

"Oi!" Kagami shouted, making a move to rescue the bluenette, but before he could Takao stopped him.

"It's alright Kagami. Just let him go. Tsugawa may be a little... fired up, but he means well. He won't do anything bad to Tet-chan." Takao said.

"Well, we must be going as well, Tanimura, Papa." Takao said. He was in charge of the Fourth Kodor students. "Will you be able to find your way back, Kagami?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah..." Kagami said. Takao smiled and with the other two students, headed down the corridor.

When they were completely out of sight, Kagami stood there debating whether to go after Kuroko or to trusting Takao's words. It was weird. Before he met Kuroko he had been on his own and yet now he had no idea to do. They traveled together for days before going to Seirin and other than that time in the dungeon he hadn't let the boy out of his sight for more than a minute or two.

_'Maybe I should go check real quick...'_ The red-head was about to go, when he remembered the determined look on the bluenette's face. He didn't want to doubt him...

_'No, he'll be fine...' _He reassured himself. With one last look, Kagami turned around and headed back to where the others were.

* * *

"We made it!" Tsuwaga said in a relieved tone as he stopped in front of the doorway that belonged to the Sixth Kodor class with almost a minute to spare.

"Y-Yes, Tsu..gawa...-kun." The bluenette's voice spoke through panting breaths.

"Let's go, Kuroko!" He let go of the boys hand and went to enter the classroom before the teacher came.

Kuroko, who had been supporting his weight on the teen next to him, promptly fell to the floor. At the sound Tsugawa looked down and only now realized what he'd done.

"Oh god, sorry Kuroko!" He exclaimed, offering his hand to help him up.

"I-It's fine." Kuroko said, catching his breath. He hadn't expected the teen to be that fast... and he really wasn't used to all that running...

Tsugawa steered the two of them into the room an towards one of the empty tables in the room. As they walked, Kuroko noticed at least ten other people in the class, all wearing robes and carrying staffs.

When he sat down at the table, he thought back to his red-haired friend who Tsugawa had dragged him away from. Although he was excited to start classes, he hadn't been able to say bye to Kagami...

"Be careful, Kuroko. Our teacher seemed really strict on the first day." Tsugawa warned. The first day had only been an introduction day, so they hadn't really done anything besides talking, so he worried what they were going to do today...

A minute or two later a man with blonde hair walked into the room, who Kuroko immediately recognized to be one of the teachers that they had met the other day in the arena.

"Quiet!" The man shouted loudly, causing everyone in the room to jump and turn their attention towards him.

"Some of you are new, so I'll introduce myself." The blonde stopped to make sure everyone was paying attention. "I'm Miyaji Kiyoshi and I'll be your instructor for the rest of the month.

_'He doesn't seem as bad as Tsugawa-kun said.'_ Kuroko thought. But, what the man said next made him realize that his friend had been pretty accurate.

"Now that that's over. I hope you are all prepared to be worked to the bone. I won't tolerate any slacking and if you do you can get the hell out of here."

"Y-You can't deny us teaching!" A girl said from her seat.

"Who said anything about denying you teaching? It'll be your own fault if you fail to meet my expectations."

"But that's no fair!" Another student shouted.

"You have no one to blame but yourselves for getting into this class. Hopefully by the end of the month you all will be decent enough to make it into Fifth if you're lucky."

"Th-There's no way he's serious...Right Kuroko?" Tsugawa asked him. Kuroko shrugged his shoulders, a gesture he had picked up from Kagami.

"Now get up all of you! We are going outside for some exercising." They all looked at the man as if he had two heads. This was a magic school, so why in the world were they going to work out..?

"Do. Not. Make. Me. Repeat. Myself." The man said, sending them all a look that had nothing but seriousness in it.

Fearing for their grades, and more importantly their lives, they all got up and followed their teacher outside.

_'The arena?'_ The bluenette thought, seeing they were standing in the place where the students had taken their exams. Were they going to fight like Kagami had asked when Midorima had mentioned it? Even if he had promised to do it, he didn't think he could do it this soon...

"Alright, you brats." They all stood in attention at the way the man yelled. "Do you all know why you're hopeless at magic?"

"Because we have less skill than the other Kodors..?" A student asked, confusion in his voice. It was an obvious answer.

"Think about it. All magicians can use magoi and yet you weaklings could barely produce enough to make a simple fire spell." Miyaji looked at the group with calculating eyes. "So, what does that mean?"

"We need more practice with spells?" A girl offered.

"No! It's because you all lack physical strength!" He shouted. "Using magic burdens the body. So, in order to make you all overcome that, you will do as I say until I deem you all ready."

"W-What? You're going to have us do physical training for the whole class until the next exam?!" Tsugawa shouted, unbelieving.

"If it takes that long for you all to get to my standards, then yes." Came the unimpressed reply.

Kuroko watched as the group of students started shouting arguments at the nonsense they were being told. He didn't know what 'physical training' was but from the reactions he supposed that it wasn't good and could only assume that whatever it was it didn't have to do with casting spells. He had to admit that he was a little saddened by the fact he couldn't learn magic yet...

Miyaji waited calmly as they rioted and looked at them with indifferent eyes. From this outburst, he had no doubt that they'd all fail within a few days... His gaze then landed on only boy who wasn't complaining or doing much of anything at all. Raising a brow at the blue-haired boy he realized who it was.

_'Hm, the Magi...'_ Miyaji thought, seeing the immense amount of Rukh that surrounded the boy. Midorima claimed he had been with the Seirin group when they went to watch the exams, but he hadn't noticed him. And even thought the green-haired man had mentioned how the boy looked, but he never expected him to be this weak... He'd be lucky to make it past the first day. Too bad.

"Be quiet!" When they shut their mouths, he continued. "Now, I'm feeling very lenient today. So, this first exercise will be easy."

"Thank God..." Someone sighed in relief, the others nodding in agreement. They thought this was going to be some kind of boot camp with the reputation the teacher had...

"Run twenty laps around the whole school."

_'Eh?! That's lenient?!'_ Tsugawa shouted in his mind, looking at the bluenette to see his reaction. Seeing no reaction, he assumed the boy was confident he'd be able to do it, but then he remembered how much Kuroko had struggled when they had simply ran from one end of the school to another... _'Is he going to be okay..?'_

"Th-That's too much!" A slightly overweight student said. When he agreed to coming to this school, he thought this would be totally different! Others shared his complaint, but Miyaji simply didn't care.

"Now, unless you want me to fail you right here and now, I suggest you do as I said." Seeing none of them start, Kuroko because he had no idea what to do and the others because they refused to, he glared at them. "You have a maximum of six hours. Starting now." With that he walked crossed his arms and gave them an expectant stare.

It was then they realized that he was being serious.

_'I'm not going to lose!' _Tsugawa thought determinedly.

"Only twenty laps?! I can do fifty! Let's go, Kuroko." Tsugawa said, looking to see if the boy was following him before turning back around and jogging. "See you failures later!"

"Hey! Wait for us!" Some shouted, jogging to catch up with the two.

_'Easy peasy'_ Tsugawa thought, not effected by the run thus far. Just as he thought this, several students whizzed past them and took the lead.

_'Ah! They're going fast!'_ He was about to suggest that they run faster to catch up with them, but when he looked over he knew that the bluenette couldn't. They were only halfway through the first lap it was just as he thought, Kuroko was definitely having difficulty. But at this rate, they wouldn't finish before everyone. Just passing would be okay for anyone, but Tsugawa was incredibly competitive... and the thought of not winning really bothered him. However he didn't feel right leaving the kid...

"I-It's okay, Tsugawa-kun." Kuroko said. He knew he was slowing his friend down and didn't want to be a burden.

"Are you sure..?"

He nodded and gave him the best smile he could manage. Tsugawa looked at him skeptically, but

"Alright...Just remember that you can do it!" Tsugawa sped up, sending one last worried look at the boy before going ahead and eventually disappearing from Kuroko's view.

If Tsugawa believed in him, then he'd try!

A few minutes later he finished the mark of two laps. But, he was definitely feeling the effect of the running and he was beginning to doubt if he really could finish all twenty... Still he continued, in hopes of getting through this and getting stronger.

On the fifth lap, he knew that he could not...

_'C-Can't.'_ Kuroko thought. Not only was he having trouble breathing after all the running, but his legs felt all wobbly and his whole body was sore...

Too distracted in his concentration to move forward, the boy accidentally stumbled over a rock and fell to the dirt ground. Kuroko defeatedly stayed where he was gasping to intake air. He couldn't move...When Midorima told him it wouldn't be easy, he really meant it... Maybe he had no talent for magic... Maybe he should just give up...

As he thought about that, his mind flashed to Kagami. How much effort his friend had put into helping him since they met. How he went to so many troubles to make sure he was okay. He wanted to return all of those favors for him... But, he was so tired...

_'N-No, have to do this, for Kagami-kun!'_ Kuroko said resolutely, struggling to stand up. When he was fully standing, albeit on shaky legs, Kuroko trekked forward, purposefully. He was going to complete this, so Kagami would be pleased at him!

* * *

Five hours... It had been five since Kuroko left for his classes and Riko plus the other members of Seirin were getting irritated.

Ever since the red-head had come back to the infirmary he had been moving constantly. Be it the anxious way his leg moved up and down as he sat in the chair. Or the many times his eyes would travel to the doorway in hopes of seeing the familiar blue hair of Kuroko's.

They had been able to ignore it for a while, but doing this for hours was getting a bit more than annoying. Especially to the glasses wearing bandit who at that moment, could no longer contain his annoyance.

"That's it! Go sleep or something Kagami!" Hyuuga said.

"I'm not tired." Kagami uttered. He couldn't possibly sleep without knowing if Kuroko was okay or not!

"Just lay down then." Riko suggested. She knew the two got along, but she hadn't expected the red-head to be so dedicated. It was both touching and exasperating. Plus, it wasn't healthy to stress so much.

"Yeah, maybe you should. It'll take your mind off of it at the very least." Izuki said. Mitobe nodded.

"Who knows, maybe he's already done with classes and waiting for you!" Koganei said, trying to cheer him up.

Kagami sighed and reluctantly complied. Getting up from his spot he headed for the door and towards his room.

_'Calm down...'_ He inwardly scolded himself. Kuroko was fine and learning magic and here he was sulking... How was he going to last a whole month of this..?

Reaching his destination he was about to grab the door knob, the wooden door opened on its own. When it fully opened Kagami saw Takao standing there.

"What are you doing here, Takao?"

"Oh, I was just dropping off Tet-chan."

"Dropping him off..?" What did he mean by that?!

"Well... you see... Miyaji may have gone a little overboard with his training..." Takao stated, letting out a nervous laugh as the red-head stare intensified.

He quickly went into the room to see what the man meant by 'overboard' and when he did he stopped in his tracks.

The bluenette was laying on the bed sound asleep. That in itself was weird, seeing as the boy had never gone to sleep without him being present. But what made Kagami's blood boil was the dirt and bruises that were littering his friends pale skin.

"What the hell did he do to him?!" Kagami shouted, hurrying to the bedside to check if the bluenette was okay.

"Well, the Sixth Kodor students had to run laps around the school..."

"You made him run laps?!" Kagami shouted. It was no wonder the boy was in this shape. While traveling he noticed how much stamina the boy lacked when they had to run from one of the monsters he was assigned to slay. And for these people who had known him previously to make him do this was unacceptable!

"Not me, Miyaji did!" The black-haired man said. If it had been any other teacher, they may have gone easy on the boy, but the blonde was a relatively new teacher, so he hadn't been around when Kuroko had stopped by with Aomine. "He's a bit... high-strung when it comes to training..."

The red-head just stayed quiet, glaring at the marks on his friends skin.

"How many laps..?"

"Twenty around the school..." He replied.

Even though he was appalled by the amount of running they made the bluenette do, he couldn't help but feel a swell of pride for his friend at the information. Kuroko was truly strong.

"Shin-chan told him not to go easy on him, but I'm sure he didn't mean that much..." Takao said. He was also angry with the blonde teacher for pushing Kuroko this much, but deep down he knew it was necessary in order for the boy to get better at magic. He had proved his methods to be true when a Sixth Kodor student had advanced to Third in the span of a month. It truly shocked all the teachers.

The two of them went silent for a few minutes before Takao spoke.

"Well, I'll be going then." Takao announced. When he saw the hadn't heard him because he was too occupied stroking the sleeping boys hair, he shook his head and smiled. The feelings the red-head had for Kuroko were so apparent. He quietly exited to the room, not wanting to disrupt the two.

Kagami sat there for almost an hour, just staring at Kuroko before noticing that Takao had left. Shrugging, he went to trying to clear off as much dirts as possible from the boys cheeks and hair.

When most was gone, he saw how dark it was outside and decided to sleep. He looked at his own bed then back to Kuroko and decided he didn't want to leave the bluenette alone. Blushing a little the red-head went to the other side of the bed and settled down on it. After all, Kuroko had done it to him, right?

After not being able to fall asleep for half an hour, Kagami groaned and sat up. Something didn't feel the same... He felt awkward just laying here on his back. Maybe on his side..? He laid back down with his back to Kuroko. No... something was still different.

Rolling over, Kagami faced the bluenette's back and stiffly lay there, not knowing what to do with his hands. What was he doing wrong?! He was sure that the last time they slept together he had such a good sleep... Looking at Kuroko and remembering how he woke up the other day, he experimentally wrapped his arms around the bluenette's waist, being mindful of the boys obvious soreness, and instantly felt the right-ness of the position.

Comfortable, Kagami closed his eyes and only moments later, fell asleep. Not noticing the way the still asleep boy's face changed from a troubled frown and into a serene smile upon the contact.

* * *

**A/N 3: **I don't know why, but I kind of laughed when I tried to picture Takeuchi as a Djinn... XD Also, I'd really appreciate any feedback on whether or not I should add a time-skip to the next chapter. I'm leaning more towards doing it than not, but I'd like to make sure that not too many people are against it first. Thanks if you do put your opinion! And I'll try to have the next chapter out soon. Someone might appear =)


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